Catalyst
by vilnolin
Summary: Terminal City is barely holding it's own, now that they find themselves a protectorate of the United States. But all is not well within TC. Phoenix Unit has returned from their various assignments. The 'Niners' have also made their way to TC. And to top it all off, somebody got some WAY bad information and decided Max is the next Messiah. ...Yeah, it's one of those days.
1. Chapter 1

Sometimes, she wished they could go back to the way things were.

It had taken a year or so, but the United States had figured that having the Terminal City transgenics under their control would be better then eliminating them out right, and had declared Terminal City a 'protectorate' under their laws.

The transgenics had been given no vote, no choice.

Maybe it wasn't hell, but it certainly wasn't an ideal situation for them. And Max worried every time an 'incident' cropped up—which seemed to be happening more and more as of late.

Which was why, when her pager blared, she was already hovering on the edge of her couch, just waiting for a reason to run into command. The code—i4 AWOL, PNX/i—scared her; she knew that Phoenix Unit was trouble, from their high priority on the Government's watch list to their unpredictable behavior, they were constantly putting TC at risk.

Max really, really, ireally/i didn't want to know what would happen this time, but it was looking like she was about to find out.

"Get me Alec! They're from his unit, he can wrangle them!" She called to Mole, desperate for some one to do isomething/i.

Mole fixed her with his usual, unreadable, stare. "Problem there, boss," He said, biting the end of his cigar and looking every bit like he was preparing himself. "Alec's with them. He's one of the four."

With the pitch her voice hit, she was surprised there was any glass left in command, and, oddly, Mole's bracing made sense. "You're going to repeat that, very slowly, and carefully." She growled, grabbing Mole by the front of his flak jacket and pulling him down to her height.

For possibly the first time in his life, Mole felt a little afraid. "Uh, I sent Alec to meet with his former second in command, you know, the guy who currently runs Phoenix Unit. And then…well, next thing we know, Alec's ordering us to stand down, and the four of them are heading out into Seattle proper."

"Who iexactly/i went?" She breathed, seething.

Mole swallowed hard. "496, 105 and 511."

Max wanted to punch something, and Mole, seemingly sensing his messenger status was putting him in some serious risk, ducked from her grasp and made sure he was well out of swinging distance. "Someone, iplease/i, get them back here. iNow/i."

A hand brushed her shoulder, and Max spun, ready to tear whoever touched her a new one. Thankfully, it was a pair of soft green eyes that stared back, though they were watching her raised fist rather wearily. "I was told that my…" Ben paused, sucking his teeth as he searched for the word, "iclones/i have gone AWOL?" He looked like he was trying rather hard not to look pleased.

It wasn't helping Max's mood that he wasn't succeeding. "Ben, shut the hell up." She glared, turning around, looking for something, anything, to distract her. However, the rest of the command wasn't deaf, and the usually bustling hub was nearly empty.

And, of course, there was someone who looked iidentical/i to the very person she was so ivery/i angry with.

Ben took the blow gracefully, barely turning his head when she punched him squarely in the jaw.

Predictably, she held out for all of a minute before she grabbed at her hand, hissing, "Fuck! Ow!"

"That's why we don't fight angry, little sister." Ben said, rubbing at the red spot forming on his jaw, "And for the record, that hurt."

Max ignored him, all of her attention on the throbbing of her right knuckles and the general feeling that her hand was about to shatter. "Is there something you ineed/i, Ben? Because right now, one designation off is close enough in my book."

She would never tell him, but the slightly disgusted and miffed expression, tinged with pride and maybe a touch of arrogance, was definitely inherited from his time with his twin. "What set this off?"

With a sigh, Max felt the very most seething of her anger evaporate, her body just too damn tired to deal with all of it. "Alec."

"Yeah, I got that. What did he do?"

"It's what he ididn't/i do." She said, sinking into the nearest chair. Still rubbing his jaw, Ben joined her. She winced apologetically, but he just held up his hand, gesturing for her to continue. "You know Alec and his unit were the elite—so elite, they were stationed all around the world, embedded in foreign programs…Well, when they came here, they still kept with some of their contacts. It came down the line that governments were willing to pay top dollar for a transgenic assassin, specifically from Alec's old unit. Felix—why Alec lets him stay in charge, I have no idea—was gung-ho for the idea, and ready to go. I said no. Felix went anyway, and Alec iknew/i…" Her voice broke on her, as an unspoken fear rose to the surface, "And I think Alec iordered/i it."

Ben listened to her, and took a moment to take it all in. "You honestly think he'd order it behind your back? I mean, he is attempting that whole…icourting/i thing." He was quite proud that his disgust didn't show.

Max sighed, looking away. "That's what I don't get. It's like there's two Alecs…no, not like that." She said, catching Ben's alarmed movement. "Not like you're whole psycho dealio. It's like he can just put our relationship in a box, and all the politics in another, and never the twain shall meet." She put her chin in her hands, frowning. "I can't do that. It's all right there."

"You may have to work on that, Maxie." Ben said, frowning. "Terminal City voted for two leaders, and Alec nearly won the popular vote." Personally, he remembered rumors circulating that Alec had also put out the idea for two leaders, and thus, ensured that Max would be in office. Ben hadn't understood the move then, and still couldn't now, especially when his clone sidestepped the media, allowing the human world to focus on Max. "As long as you're in office, if you want to have a relationship, you have to take a page out of his book."

"When did you get so smart, brother?" Max asked, jostling him with her shoulder comfortably.

Ben smiled at her, a soft, almost unsure smile, "When you managed to rescue me from Manticore. They may have cured my insanity, but you got me back out."

Max's mind flashed back to that dreadful day, first the realization that her brother was a serial killer, and then knowing he wouldn't stop. She had no idea what she had planned to do with him, but after taking out his knee, with him begging for her to end it, she had been ready too. But their discussion had taken too long, and Max had only realized they were surrounded when she had been tazered. In the miracle that followed, she had managed to throw off most of the shock, prompted by Ben's scream of 'run!' and had done just that. She was sure they killed him, and had carried that around with her until he had shown up at TC, a beaten Biggs in his arms, looking weary of approaching Alec who seemed to be ivery/i familiar with Ben. "You still haven't told me what they did to you."

Ben's face closed off, and he looked away. "And I won't. Some things you shouldn't hear." As always, whenever she attempted to pry more out of him, he suddenly became deaf.

"I'll get it out of you one day," She teased. "Now, I need to get eyes on Alec, and figure out why the hell he's suddenly lost his mind."

"Or you could just, I dunno, iask/i."

Max spun, not expecting the eerily similar voice to sound from behind her.

Alec stood there, the three other AWOL soldiers just behind him, and he did not look happy.

However, neither was Max, and she tore in on him: "What the hell did you think you were doing? You were supposed to italk/i to them!"

His expression didn't change. "I did."

She felt Ben take a step away from her, and increased her glare on Alec. "iInside/i Terminal City!"

"Ah. Well, there we might have a little problem." He stood comfortably, confidently, and Max felt a slight twinge of fear. "Because we're not staying in TC."

It took her several minutes to process that statement, and another couple to realize that Alec had said 'we'. "Wait, what?"

Behind Alec, the lone female in the group let out a scathing chuckle, but aside from that, they were silent, at ease. "We—as in Phoenix Unit, the X5Rs—are leaving TC." There was something in his eyes, something that was almost like pain.

But Max really could only register one thing, "You're leaving me?"

"It figures she prioritizes the mate above the fact that she's losing an entire squadron of transgenics." 496, Felix MacGyver, announced, with a quick glance to the two others standing beside him.

"Dismissed." Alec muttered, glancing over his shoulder. To Max's surprise, the three of them snapped to attention, saluting, before heading back out the way they came. "As Felix said, it's slightly more complicated like that and I swear to god, if you keep glaring at me like, 493, I'll take it as a challenge and we all remember what happened last time." Alec finished, the last bit directed at his twin.

Max turned to see Ben reluctantly schooling his face into something less hostile. "You're leaving my sister."

"Again, there's more to it. Much more." He snarled, and Max honestly knew they were about to come to blows.

With a hasty nod to Mole (who was doing a very good job at pretending he wasn't listening), she deliberately placed herself between the twins. "Guys."

"Princess!" It was reluctantly that Alec tore his gaze from Ben's, the intense green now focused on Mole. "So, if your squad is leaving, then you'll need to be armed, eh?"

"Yes…" Alec admitted, glancing back over his shoulder to Max and Ben, "But now is not the time." He turned back, attention only on Max. "Look, Max, I have to stick by my people as much as you do yours…even though it sucks…" He added, almost as an after thought. "But it comes down to this; you're letting them istifle/i us. We can't exist without remembering 'they want us to be more human'. Now, not everyone feels that way." He conceded, looking much more like the laid back Alec she remembered. "But, and please, don't freak at this, a lot of iyour/i supporters are…zealots."

"This is because I vetoed Phoenix Unit from taking missions." She said, her mouth dry.

Alec looked around, as if trying to find a better word. "Yes and no. I mean, partly, yes, you're denying the Phoenixes pretty much everything they iknow/i, but there's also a percent of the population who expected for us to embrace the animal we are, and have our government based on pack…" He shook his head. "And I tried, Max. How many other ihuman/i governments have an alpha male iand/i female? But, it's not working."

"You can't, it's not safe! And the government will nuke us!" Her greatest fear, the reason why she had been fighting so hard, it was out in the open, and it was terrifying to admit it.

And Alec showed no reaction, of course he knew, he held the same position she did, "My crew have been running missions since they arrived; did you or anyone else notice?" His look of smug superiority was enough to make Max see red, her terror fueling her rage.

"You're leaving over my dead body." She growled, starting to circle him, "You can't just abandon your people!"

He seemed completely at ease—even bored—despite the fact she was ready to tear out his throat. "I'm not; iI'm/i saving them, by letting them be who they want to be. We're giving them ioptions/i, Max. And, really, please, do you want to make a fool of yourself?" He questioned, as she lined herself up directly behind him.

It was almost comical the way he sidestepped her tackle, letting her crash into Ben with a vaguely amused expression. "Maxie, please, don't do this. Seriously. I don't want to…" He trailed off, pleading in his eyes.

But Max was beyond livid. "Oh, no, Mr. 'Alpha', this is how you all claim your rank? Well, defend it from me."

She swung at him, and he caught her wrist easily, bringing it down and then straight-arming it back up, locking her elbow extended and jamming the humerus into the scapula, effectively deadlocking her arm. "Max," He whispered, using her numb arm to pull her close, looking pained, "Please. I don't want to hurt you. And you're about to make a flat out challenge."

"I wasn't already?!" She snarled, yanking her arm away, only to be caught by Ben.

He yanked down, dislocating but freeing her shoulder, before whispering, "Max, seriously, you should back down." She shook her head, but he held her injured shoulder firm, keeping her back. "You wanted to know what Manticore did to cowl me into submission? They left me alone with ihim/i." And only then, did Ben step back, watching Alec wearily.

With those rather severe words of warning, Max gave slight pause…but Alec was lounging against one desk, deliberately letting himself be vulnerable.

"I'm not going to let you split our people up!" She declared, ignoring the gathering crowd of transgenics.

"Who said you had a choice?" The tone in his voice was foreign, and sent fear spiking through her body. When Alec looked back up at her, she thought maybe, just maybe, she had pushed this too far. "Ok, Ms. President Elect, this is your last chance to stand down."

Max strode up to him, invading his personal space, jamming a finger into his chest. At this range, she could smell the testosterone he was putting out, and see that the hair on the back of his neck was standing damn near straight up. "No, it's iyour/i, last chance."

Alec smirked, gently pressing a hand to her chest. She was just about to say something when his muscles tensed, and with barely an inch of space between them, sent her flying back across the room. "I've got ten years of training on you, 452." He jeered, standing up and starting to circle the remains of the desk she had landed on. The other transgenics cleared a path for him, no one stepping in, no one daring to. "And on top of that," He started, catching her leg as she attempted to sweep him out, "I'm what amounts to Manticore's Black Ops. Do you have any idea what ihuman/i black ops get as extra training?" He released her leg, crossing his arms. "Take the warning, 452, and back the fuck down."

His eyes were reminiscent of a Ben's when she had first tracked him down; wild and feral.

But, Max couldn't let this go. "Not if it involves splitting up." She stood, wincing at the pain in her back and shoulder. "Alec, I'm going to remove you from office if you don't stop this talk and stand down."

He stared at her, mouth slightly open as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. And then he ilaughed/i.

The laughter was much more alarming, especially since she could see several of the transgenics watching the spectacle smiling, as if they were in on this joke.

"Oh, iMax/i," He said, fixing her with a hard stare, "Did you seriously think I got voted in by idemocracy/i? That my status is something you can strip from me?" He glanced off, lost in his own head, apparently coming to some sort of decision. "Apparently, this isn't something you understand. And I'm sorry, Max, I'm so sorry, but now you're going to have to learn." Alec eyes snapped to Mole and Ben, focusing his attention on them. "Take care of her, and make sure no one else jostles for this position when she's down, eh?"

Max only had time to wonder at his words when she realized he was blurring towards her. She sidestepped, but only just barely, the wind being knocked from her as one of his fists clipped her midriff. She didn't even have time to catch her breath, because Alec was already behind her, one arm across her neck, the other behind her head, trapping her in a sleeper hold. "Stop struggling! I'm trying to put you down easy!" He hissed to her ear.

She slammed her head back, just managing to catch his nose, and his grip loosened just barely. She ducked out, rubbing at her throat as she launched a kick to his stomach that he didn't block.

He let out a grunt with the impact, not letting the blow phase him. Wiping the blood from his nose, he glared down at her, a snarl affixed to his features.

Max felt a paralyzing fear, like she was a deer caught in headlights.

Behind her, someone gave her a little push, and it knocked her out of her daze in just enough time to register Alec was rushing her again. This time, she couldn't get out of the way, and took the full force of his right fist into her solar plexus, ripping the air from her lungs and leaving her doubled over his fist. Slowly, he withdrew his arm, before he grabbed the back of her hair, forcing her head up, her neck shown.

She knew she had lost, he could snap her neck easily if he wanted to. But, instead, he seemed to be waiting for everyone to take in the fact he had her completely at his mercy, before he let go, and turned his back on her, as if she was no more of a threat.

Insulted, she struggled to get back up, but her shoulder wouldn't support her, and her arm collapsed. Air was still struggling to return to her lungs, and she could only managed to flop herself onto her back, her breathing ragged.

Slowly, after what felt like an eternity, she felt arms wrapping around her, helping her into a sitting position. It was Mole, and he was shaking his head sadly. "That wasn't smart, boss." He said, quietly, letting her use his body as leverage so she could pull herself to her feet. "None of the X5s are going to listen to you now."

"Not true." Came Ben's voice from her other side. "I mean, yeah, it's kinda hard to look at her, but don't those pheromones dissipate?"

"What pheromones?" Max demanded, even angrier when she realized that Ben was indeed having a hard time looking at her.

He gave a helpless little shrug. "How do you think we lost rank? If you challenge someone, and you lose, something happens chemically in response. It's why Alec's alpha scent is so strong; he has yet to lose. And you…just ireally/i lost."

"So my scent changed?"

"Your irank/i changed. Your status in the pack changed." Mole explained, leading her to the more secluded area of her private office. She couldn't help but notice that command had practically emptied in Alec's wake.

"Ok," She said, wincing as he helped her into a chair, "So where am I?"

Mole and Ben shared a look, and Mole took a stab first, pulling out a fresh cigar. "No clue, boss. I don't get you Xs and your pack scents."

Her eyes narrowed. "Bullshit. You respected Alec the very first time he showed up here, but me you had an issue with."

Looking helpless, Mole shared a look with Ben, who sighed heavily. "You're probably a step above us, Maxie." Ben admitted, rather grimly. "The 'Niners' as they call us. We're the low wolves, Max, the barely tolerated members of the pack, practically scavengers. And Alec knocked you from alpha female down to an omega."

"Mind you, that may strike a cord with some of your friends," Mole said, looked slightly amused. "That whole 'Alpha/Omega' thing."

Ben looked up at him, alarmed. "That's biblical."

"And of course you would know it." Mole shot back, fixing him with a hard stare. "I find it hard to believe that you have no idea what they're calling her in the streets."

Max looked up, her head still swimming from the news that she had managed to lose every bit of pack respect she had earned…from ione/i fight. "What are they calling me?"

"Messiah." Ben said, still glaring at Mole. "Because of the runes."

Realization struck Max, and it felt like a blow to her heart. "Alec was afraid of this turning into a theocracy."

"More then that, Max," Mole said, glancing out the window to the streets below them, "He was afraid of you making us Human. I mean, isn't that crazy religious crap a warning? That our people have taken a little too much from the Norms? Look what happened to Ben!"

"Hey!" Ben squawked. "I had a genuine brain issue."

"My point exactly."

"Guys, stop." Max said, shaking her head. "I need to know what to do from here, not have you two arguing." She breathed out, taking a few deep calming breaths, and wiping the tears from her eyes. "He knew I was going to lose. He knew the outcome. And he told you to take care of me…"

"I'll give him this," Ben said, sounding begrudging, "He cares about you. A lot. If he had been any other male, you would have been exiled, because none of us would have gone near you." He shuddered a bit, "Its bad enough that I ihave/i to listen to that bastard."

"Why?" Max questioned, feeling lower then low. "Why do you have to listen to him?"

Ben made a face. "He's my pack leader. Yeah, Zack was once upon a time, but when Manticore recaptured me…" He shuddered again. "Alec had been just released from Psy-Ops, since they caught me, they didn't need to torture him, now that they had proven it wasn't genetic. But it wasn't enough. The second they had cut out the bad parts of my brain—yeah, Max, I was brain damaged, shut up—they left me in a room with him, and the warning that if I didn't fight, they'd send in my iother/i clone too. And I fought, Maxie, I did. But he didn't even try. And the rage…" He curled in on himself. "Max, I think we made permanent enemies with the Phoenixes. I know everything they did to them, because 494 made sure I knew."

"He does that, our princess." Mole said, looking rather amused for a story where someone was practically beaten to death. "Just like he made sure you knew what you were losing. You can't say he didn't warn you."

"I know." Max said, rubbing at her sore shoulder again. "I just don't know how we're gonna get through this."

Ben and Mole said nothing, but each took a side, knowing she needed to feel them there, and that she would plain need them.

Terminal City was changing, and it was bringing a storm with it.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't as if he hadn't planned for this eventuality, or hadn't started preparations at the very first sign of trouble.

No, Alec had known that TC wasn't big enough for the two factions of transgenics for a long time. Truthfully, it had started when the runes had, with whispers that she was 'special', and 'chosen'. The fact that the translation was leaked (thanks in no little part to a certain Logan Cale and his inability to follow procedure) certainly didn't help matters.

But, whispers don't stay whispers for long. Someone heard something, thought it was fact, and then told others that it was. And thus, whispers suddenly became absolute truth.

Alec hadn't really thought to much of it, not until midway through the siege. Not until he heard a scared, crying X6 cry out that Max would save them; they just needed to believe in her!

While he was all for believing in people, the awe-struck tone in the youth had sent chills down his spine. His blood had positively frozen when he saw several others clasp hands, huddling together, and caught Max's name amongst the whispers.

And oh, how he tried to say something. Try to give her some sort of warning. But Max took the war-time prayers and cries as normal; and they were, just not for itheir/i kind. Manticore had known the dangers of organized religion, understanding that zealots were the hardest creatures to control; it was the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Coliseum all in one.

Beyond that, they were created by iman/i; only a fool would believe any man a god.

However, the real trouble had started when the on-assignment transgenics began showing up at Terminal City. Alec had known that the commanding officer of Phoenix Unit was here by the rather large explosion that had erupted outside of their perimeter fence, taking out the bulk of the tanks and heavy ammunition that the army was using to police their boarders. No one even questioned the attack, evidence clearly concluding that it was improperly stored fuel and a careless grunt with a cigarette. 494 had known better; his brother's explosions had a certain signature, if one knew what to look for.

iHis/i unit, Alec's unit since 2009, took the longest to return, having to make their way across countries, being recalled from Great Britain, Germany, China, Russia and Japan. He had felt a certain pride, when Dix showed him where his unit had been assigned, and the fact that each and every one of them answered his call. Granted, 600—Lane—had killed himself after his assassination in Italy; the world was still rocked over the death of the Pope, and Devon had made a fuss before finally agreeing to leave Japan, but the rest of his Unit had been genuinely pleased to be back together again. It awoke old behaviors, comfortable ones, and encouraged others to let themselves go.

However, Max's die hard supporters had seen the nuzzling, scenting and in-human noises that were commonplace in a unit at ease as blasphemy—Alec had been told off on more then one occasion for having the audacity to not control his feline side in public.

It had blown up yesterday, when Felix—his brother, and current commander of Phoenix Unit—had informed him that there was a regular meeting of the same group of transgenics that were going on about some sort of savior.

Alec had been ready to bring the whole deal up with Max, when it happened. Jewel—another female from his unit, twinned from Max's sister, Tinga—had been found beaten and barely breathing, for daring to go into heat in a public place, as if she had any control over it!

Unfortunately, this had necessitated the removal of Jewel's mate—none other then Alec's best friend and communications officer, Biggs—from TC, lest a homicide (Alec wasn't sure if it would be his or theirs) took place. And this urgent relocation, taking literally every bit of dominance that the three ranking members of Phoenix Unit had, prompted more dissent among the people, with Max being the most irked.

And then it had all come out.

It hadn't been his choice to tell her like that, but oh, how she had gotten under his skin. It had been the same way he found himself courting the former leader of Terminal City: one day, the ruse had just been too much, and he had shown up in HQ with a bouquet of roses, and the declaration that he was "breaking up" with her, only to drop down on one knee and officially ask if she would let him take her out, date her for ireal/i. By this point, everyone ibut/i Logan had caught on it was a ruse, and Max was still a little irked at his blatant admittance of it, but it had worked.

He had even gotten laid that night as a bonus.

After that, he had taken the time to continue the tradition, bringing her a little something when he could, in general making sure he spent time with her, making her dinner when they managed to score extra supplies. He may not have the culinary skills of Logan Cale, but Alec knew he could cook, and was halfway convinced that was how he finally managed to claim Max as his girlfriend.

And then ithis/i.

Alec let his head drop against the apartment wall, frowning as he heard the soft rustle of clothing as Felix padded towards him. "I'm not in the mood, 496."

"Oh, using the ole' designation. This iis/i serious." Felix announced, ignoring him. "I'm not in the mood either, Alec, but this has to be discussed."

Alec turned, sighing in frustration. "What has to be?"

"iHow/i we're gettin' there." He said, leaning against the same wall Alec had been resting on. "I know Mexico's only our starting point, and..."

"Caravanning. I've had Dix pull aside some transport for the ones who want to come with."

"And ithat/i total?"

Alec frowned. "About half."

Felix let out a low whistle. "You serious? Half of Terminal City?" Alec nodded, grimly. "But that means…"

"That Max is in for a hell-of-a lot of trouble." Alec finished, staring out the grimy window that covered his apartment. "The only good thing about her challenging me is it pulled the animal-heavy transies out; we're too stifled in city conditions anyway, keeping our people at risk with all those ihuman/i laws. But, don't jump to conclusions yet, there may be only a handful that are actually part of that weird religion thing anyway. Could be loyalty. Not going to try to discourage that."

There was a rap at the door, and both turned to see a short female, snapping a salute. Alec stared at her for a long moment, and she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze before finally snapping, "What?"

"Ahem." Felix pretend-coughed, looking pointedly at her raised right hand.

"This isn't Manticore, Keegan. And I'm not one for protocol." Alec said, a small smile tracing his lips.

Keegan scowled as she dropped her salute, crinkling half her nose. "Hey, it's habit." She shook her head, focusing on Alec again. "Another twenty transgenics have requested to join us. Something's goin' on in the East end of TC that has them scared stiff."

"Did you send anyone?"

The look she gave him was reminiscent of Max, all indignant and proud. "As if iI'd/i forget protocol? Not bloody likely." Standing up to her full 5'2'' height, she said, "Biggs volunteered right off the bat to check it out. I sent Keema with him, and Trig's hanging back, keeping an eye on the situation. He stepped up for Delta Unit, Alec. Since Cece…"

Alec held up a hand, not needing the reminder of the loss they had suffered at Jam Pony, when the leader of the Phoenix Unit's closest sister unit passed away at a Cultist's bullet. "Trig, thankfully, was another alpha, so no power struggle there." With that sudden thought, he glanced between Keegan and Felix, one eyebrow raised. "Speaking of, am I going to have to make a show fight of dominance? You two iare/i the alpha breeding pair here."

Felix stared at him as if he had lost his mind, and Keegan smacked him hard on the shoulder. "Oh, do inot/i jinx me like that or I will cut your heart out with a spoon."

Alec chuckled, rubbing at his shoulder even as Felix laughed at him. "You're our leader, Alec, I just run the unit. Well, and back you up, since we iare/i one of the best teams Manticore created." He paused, frowning as a deep thought washed over him. "Do you think 493 has anything to do with it? The religion thing? I don' like it."

"Couldn't get a good read, to be honest. The bastard is always trying to challenge me when he sees me, and I doubt he even realizes it at this point. I really should put him back in his place before we go…" Alec frowned, shaking his head. "No, Max needs him functioning."

"You're really trusting two niners with the rest of our people?" She asked, looking worried. "I know Mole's there, but seriously…"

"What choice have we got? Let me know the moment Biggs reports in." Keegan nodded, accepting her dismissal with another salute, "Damnit! It's not Manticore!"

"You sure? It certainly sounds like it!" She called back, grinning.

Alec shook his head, turning in time to see Felix chuckling, watching Keegan's retreating form with fondness. "So this is what they trained you for in Quantico?"

"Stopping point for us Abroad." Felix said, eyes still on the fading form of his mate. "Keegan and I were shipped right off to MI6 as part of the US's treaty with the UK. " His tone turned grim, and he turned to face Alec with an expression to match. "I saw what those people did, Alec. And trust me, if I could have, I would have made sure that government went down and hard. I don't want to have to watch that happen here."

"It's what we're trying to avoid." Alec's voice quavered, despite his best intentions. He knew of some of the measures the UK had taken to make sure their citizens remained 'safe' and 'calm'; it was practically a police state. The thought of that happening here terrified him.

Knowing the need for companionship, Felix stepped closer, resting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I can lead. You can stay."

"Can I?" Alec shook his head, wiping an unshed tear from his eye. "No, you're good, Felix, but you're also new. The transhumans trust me."

"Yeah, you're probably right." With a final clasp of his shoulder, Felix headed off after his mate, giving a slightly worried glance back at Alec.

Left alone with his thoughts, Alec found the sadness that was still creeping through his body, settling into his bones. He half wondered if this was going to be a permanent thing.

The buzzing of his cell phone in his front pocket caught his attention, and he pulled it out, staring down at the screen. His heart leapt; Max.

Hesitating, he pressed the call button, and put the phone to his ear, ignoring the slight shake of his hand. "Yes?"

Only breathing filtered through the static-y line for the first few seconds, and then, quavering, Max's voice spoke. "Mole just gave me the figures of whose leaving."

He closed his eyes, rubbing his free hand over them forcefully. "I can't ask people to stay, Max. I can't ask them to deny what they want to do."

"No, it's not…well, it's not just that." Her voice was so unsure, and Alec bit his lip, fighting to keep his resolve in check. "Alec, I'm scared."

Instantaneously, he was alert, ready to rush off at the second she asked. "What's going on?"

"I feel…" She trailed off, but he didn't need her to finish. He was feeling the exact same thing. "How can you leave?"

He put his head against the wall, wishing with all his might this was easier. "Maxie, please…it's something…it's ibigger/i then you and me. I wish…" iI could tell you that I've loved you from the moment you told me off for trying to leave that ragtag group of kids. I wish that I never fought my way to the top, all those years ago. God, Max, I wish I could pass this off on someone else! But then, what sort of transgenic would I be?/i He sighed into the mouth piece, and wanted to cry. "I wish I could stay with you, Maxie." He whispered, his free hand closing on a small object in his pocket. "But my people need me. And your people need iyou/i. You're gonna want to send some of your Niners to check out the east side of TC."

"Why?"

He frowned. "I just caught wind that something's going down. My people are there, but yours should be too."

"And this is it?"

He knew exactly what she was talking about: them. "If you want it to be." He said, pulling his hand from his pocket, and curling it into a fist. "I swore I'd follow your lead."

"But…" She sounded so hopeful. "You?"

"No." He whispered, "I don't want it over. But…"

"Not now." She gave a little laugh, but it was clear she wasn't amused. "I am just never gonna find the right time for love, am I?"

His heart constricted. iLove/i. "Don't say that, Maxie. Please, just…don't say that."

She was silent for a long time, and Alec almost thought he had lost the call…but then she spoke, soft, barely more then a whisper. "Promise me, Alec, promise me that you and I are gonna figure this out. That we won't be separated for long. Promise me."

iBut I can't! What if it all goes to hell?/i "My word that I am doing my best, Max. If I knew…hell, I'd take a tarot reading to tell me what's gonna happen! But I iswear/i to you, X5-452, my Max, no matter iwhat/i happens, I will die before I see you hurt." His voice was breaking, he needed to get away, end the call—

"I love you."

It was so quiet, he almost thought he imagined it. "I know." He said, just as quietly. "And I kinda think I love you too."

Her laugh was soft, and relieved, and made the first real smile since this whole mess started. "Think? Please." She teased, and he could almost see her smile. "I've got to go; I gotta get my people out to the East Side."

"Bye, Maxie." He said, before hitting the end button. The absolute silence of his apartment rang in his ears, and yet, he felt oddly light. iLove/i. Oh, part of him had suspected, maybe even iknown/i, that she did, and for a while now too, but he had been pushing it aside, calling it wishful thinking.

He shook his head, swallowing hard as his mouth was suddenly dry. He made to reach for a glass, and perhaps his favorite scotch—

His hands were shaking.

Alec stared down at them, déjà vu striking him hard. i "Your hands are shaking."/i

Oh, he had known he loved Max, he wasn't an idiot. But, the power, the emotion, the fucking iphysical/i response…Was he actually that blessed?

iComes with a price, and you know it./i He thought, the words bursting his little, happy bubble. iFuck. I still have to leave. I don't want to go./i

This entire time he was allowing his people to have the freedom to do what they wanted, and now he was forcing himself to ignore his own. Sacrifice of a leader, yes, and he knew and accepted that.

But never before had it stung quite so much, or cut quite this deep.

His cell phone buzzed again, and Alec tore himself from his thoughts, staring at the incoming call with nervousness. "Biggs? What's going on?"

"It's fucking ichaos/i down here!" X5-511, also known as Biggs Darklighter, yelled, and Alec was pretty sure he could hear gunfire in the background.

"Who the hell is armed?"

"iThe Children of the Runes/i!" Biggs screamed back, and static took the line as something exploded close to the ear piece. "Fuck, that was close! Alec! That 'little' cult? They're at least two units strong, and have decided they iown/i east TC! They're forcing the 'animals' out!"

Alec sucked on his teeth, forcing himself to think rather then have a knee-jerk reaction. "These iChildren/i, who are they made up of?"

"That's the weird thing, sir!" Biggs said, his voice muffled as if he was holding the phone with his shoulder. "They range from X4 to transhuman, but no X5s! None of us are out there!"

His first instinct was pride, but then another idea started creeping into his head. "Get everyone you can out of there! Engage only if necessary!"

"~izzt!/i" Alec stared at his phone, hoping to god the order didn't come too late. And then, "Understood! But, why?"

Alec gripped the phone tightly, slamming his fist into the wall. "Because they're fucking insane and I don't want to lose my people!" He knew he should call Max, to let her know that his worst fears had been realized.

But that was when the door slammed open, and Felix bolted in, grabbing Alec and pulling him towards the door without so much as a word. He barely had time to question when the shockwave of an explosion knocked him off is feet, sending him and Felix into a far wall.

War was starting.

bTo Be Continued/i


	3. Chapter 3

Max was lost.

Somewhere, sometime, between the initial reports of activity and the influx of smoke, and heat and flame, she had gotten lost.

And now, there was someone pulling at her arm, forcing her out of the smoky office. To her complete shock, it wasn't any of her remaining unit. No, the shorter, darker female named Keegan had dragged her out.

"They're called iThe Children of the Runes/i," Keegan said, her voice slightly muffled behind the bandana she had wrapped around her nose and mouth. With a flick of her wrist, Max was suddenly be presented with another, and she hastily wrapped it around her face, hating the smothering feeling, but immediately appreciating the clean air. "They're trying to bring their 'savior' to their temple." The slightly manic smirk that 105 wore was only visible in the glint of her eyes. "I figured it would be prudent to step in."

Max nodded, coughing against the heavy smoke. "Much appreciated." It was difficult to follow her movements, but Max was able to keep one hand on Keegan's gear belt, keeping just as low, using the smoke as a cover. "Did Alec send you?"

Keegan made a slightly scathing noise behind the bandana, "You really think that none of us can think for ourselves, eh?" The heavy fabric made it difficult for her to understand, but Max found the words oddly soothing, despite that. "When this went sideways, I ran here first."

There was no warning for the next smoke bomb. It was only Keegan's foresight that kept Max from dropping like so many of the others in Command. In fact, on more then one occasion, Max was grabbed and shoved bodily on, forced to ignore the fallen amongst her companions.

Fire sprung up, and Max felt her panic flare to disastrous proportions. Keegan, however, kept a cool head, and continued on her path, keeping on hand on Max's arm, keeping her on the clear and relatively under-smoked path. Within minutes, the smoke was heavy in the air, forcing them to drop down low. Somewhere behind them, she could hear people yelling, crying…she wanted to turn, to try to help—

"Don't make me knock you out," Keegan warned, her hand closing firmly on Max's wrist, "I'd enjoy it."

Max barely had time to be insulted before Keegan was continuing to drag her on. Behind them, gun fire had joined the voices. "They're—"

"There are more pressing matters." Keegan slowed her pace, stepping down lightly, as if listening.

A second later, a figure burst through the smoke beside them, rushing at Keegan, only to find that Keegan wasn't standing there anymore. Unable to stop his movement, the male went sprawling into the far wall, and Keegan made a scathing noise, carefully stepping around him, kicking his side arm out of reach as she did so. "The fact I could hear you over this mess is kinda made of fail, eh?" She quipped, gesturing for Max to follow her lead.

"No!" To Max's shock, the male surged to his feet, his bandana now hanging around his neck, "You won't take her!"

"Ben!" Max yelled, stepping between them and smacking him in the shoulder, "That's one of Alec's!"

Predictably, Ben wrinkled his nose, glancing at the impatiently waiting Keegan. "…One of his iwhat's/i exactly?"

"Oi, Benji. Get your ass in gear if you're comin' with." Keegan yelled, coughing despite her make-shift mask. "We can't stay here!"

As if to prove her point, another explosion rocked the building, and Max covered her head against the downpour of plaster from the ceiling. Squinting against the debris, she made a 'come on' gesture to Ben, who only paused long enough to grab his gun from the floor.

It was more of a maze then ever, and Max had the worst feeling that this was it, the end. And she wasn't even sure iwhy/i.

It felt like an eternity later, but there was light ahead that wasn't flickering, accompanied with a tickle of fresh air. Keegan held her hand up, gesturing for them to hold, as she carefully assessed the situation outside of the building. After a long moment, they were moving again, and Max glanced back, seeing a good two or three units' worth of people running around, fighting each other. There were bright flashes of gunfire amidst the flames of Headquarters, and she didn't want to guess how many were fighting inside.

No one looked twice at them, and Keegan used that to her advantage. As more people ran towards the flames, she brought them further away…towards the X5 housing.

The apartments had more guards then usual, and were a lot noisier then she was used too. The second they were inside, Keegan grasped her shoulder and brought her towards the back of the building, towards the basement access. It was slow going; it seemed that the building was filled to capacity twice over, with field triage being performed in the halls, and munitions distributions by some small X8s, who were carrying the weapons, handing them out to the various unarmed transgenics around. It looked like a battle hospital.

"Are they here?" Keegan was talking to an X4 named Drizzt, a jet-black skinned male who seemed to be in command of the section they were in.

He snapped a salute, which she dismissed with a slight wave of irritation, before he answered, "No, Ma'am."

Her eyes narrowed, and Max felt a twinge of worry, glancing at Ben, who just looked confused. "What do you mean, 'no'?" Keegan snarled, almost sing-song in her barely contained anger. "Felix radioed me, said they were en route."

"Uh…don't know, ma'am?" Drizzt replied, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm supposed to be supervising the weapon distributions…"

Keegan waved him off, snarling, before she spun on Max and Ben. "Come on, we're heading down."

"I don't do basements." Ben announced, stopping mid-step. Max gave him a little shove. "No, I don't do basements."

At this point, it seemed Keegan was fed up with the days events. Or at least, she had it with Ben. "Really?" her voice was oddly challenging. Even Ben looked like he was rethinking his position.

Max kinda didn't want to know exactly ihow/i much enjoyment Keegan got from bodily throwing Ben down the stairs. At least the expression on the group of people gathered in the dark room was worth it. Forcing her smirk away, she reached out, extending a hand to Ben, who was sitting on the floor where the stairs abruptly met a wall, and rubbing his head.

"You know, I think that's how we should interrupt every meeting." It was a relief to hear Alec's voice break the silence, though the dark amusement in his tone bothered Max immensely. "Keegan, you sure know how to make an entrance."

"Figured you could use some cheering up. Now move." She said, her expression unchanging. Max half expected Alec to snap at her, do something, but instead, he just stepped aside, and she rushed past him—and into the arms of Felix.

Alec gave them a moment before clearing his throat loudly. "Max." He completely ignored Ben, stepping forward, and losing any trace of amusement from his features. "Are you alright? Did they do anything?"

Max shook her head, still trying to process what had just happened.

Giving her a slight smile, Alec turned back to the assembled transgenics. "I'm still waiting on that intelligence report!" Everyone in the room besides them seemed to suddenly have quite a lot to do. He used their distraction to his advantage, waving Felix and Keegan over. "Report." He snapped, his eyes on Keegan.

"Typical Manticore tactics for a blitz extraction. Counted four units fighting, one trapped inside command. They got their hands on smoke bombs—don't know if it was designed to knock out or kill, didn't risk it." She said, gesturing to the grimy bandana around her neck. "Biggs was closest to command after me, did he radio?"

It was Felix who answered, hands tight on Keegan's shoulders. "He's leading the two units we sent in. We lost radio contact about three minutes ago."

A pregnant silence fell; three minutes in a battle was a long time.

"I'm istill/i waiting on that report!" Alec yelled, whirling on his heel and heading back towards the card tables that were currently their war room.

A fair X5 with pale blue eyes ran to intercept him, a sheaf of hand scribbled notes in her outstretched hand. "The border patrols were ordered to pull back two hundred yards fifteen minutes before the initial attack inside TC; preliminary assessment is that the US Government is aware of this faction and may even be encouraging it."

Alec took the papers, dismissing her with a "Good", and skimming the notes himself. "I need Mole! Did anyone think to grab the dinosaur?"

"He radioed he was en route!" A squeaking voice yelped, and Max turned to see Dix in the corner, his form hunched over a computer that looked like it was more wire then device. "He was checking weapons caches to make sure they weren't stealing our stuff."

"No, he just wanted to blow up some traitors." Alec muttered under his breath, acknowledging the information with wave. "Ok, so this is going to change our plans."

"We are ready to mobilize." Felix said, sounding cautious. "It will have to be a straight run, sacrifice some non-essential supplies for body space."

"Still might not be enough. We want this undetected…"

Max suddenly found her voice, her shock fueling it; "What? Are you planning on taking everyone ibut/i this rebel faction?"

Alec didn't even glance her way. "Yep, pretty much."

She gawked at him. "There's no iway/i you'll get everyone out without the border patrols opening fire! I don't know if you got the memo, but we're confined to TC."

"And you," Alec said, leaning forward and placing a kiss on her forehead, "Are thinking like them. Trust me, Max, there's no way we're letting them know we haven't just blown ourselves to pieces."

The last few words clicked in her brain—"You're not going to ibomb/i them, Alec! It's…it's…"

"It's what they did to us." Ben said, quietly, speaking up for the first time.

His words struck her, and the fact both he and Alec were in agreement also meant that, perhaps things were a bit more dire then she had been allowing herself to believe; and she could believe a lot.

"Tactically, it makes sense," Felix was explaining, "As it also lets them believe the 'problem' is gone. Charred remains tend to look the same."

The idea horrified her, but she didn't have anything else to offer, no plan, no idea, nothing. And, judging by the orders Alec was issuing, he wasn't waiting for her approval either. "I'm scared." Her voice was barely more then a whisper, but it stopped the entire room dead.

The sudden silence made her feel more self conscious of her word slip, and she shifted away from the looks she was getting; it was worse to note they were looks of sympathy, and knowing.

"I think I can speak for all of us when I say, 'me too'." Dix said, breaking the stillness. "I'd think there was something wrong if we weren't afraid." There were nods of assent around the entire room.

Above them, however, the sounds of fighting had grown closer, and Drizzt poked his head down the stairwell, yelling some code that Max couldn't catch. Alec replied with a 'yes!', and Drizzt's head disappeared quickly followed by the unmistakable sounds of displacement.

"Ok, we've lost command—fire, not forces" Alec clarified, speaking to the faces of disbelief. "We need to move, and step up the plans for redeployment. Any ideas on an emergency rendezvous?" No one spoke. "Come on, people, you're here for a reason, I need ideas."

"Wyoming." Ben's voice shook, but he didn't back down when Alec looked in his direction. "The site hasn't been sanitized, and was left abandoned. And if anyone else knows of a place that can conceal the amount of people we're talking about, I'm open to it. I'd rather not be heading back to that place."

Alec surveyed him thoughtfully for a moment before nodding, "Noted, and pass along the coordinates to the drivers—it's the best idea we have so far." Above them, sounds had quieted to the faint sounds of approaching battle. "Medic is cleared," Alec announced, just as Drizzt poked his head back down to deliver the same news. Waving the white-haired X4 off, he turned, taking a long look at the assembled transgenics. "we need to move out. Remember how to stay low key." Finally, he looked at Max, tossing her a radio. "Get the Niners out of there, they are to stay with you at all times. 493," Ben, at her side, stiffened, standing at attention despite his attempts to appear casual, "You're in command. Get them ready for redeployment and keep eyes on Max at all times, understood?" Alec demanded, apparently unaware of the stir his words caused.

Ben stood up even straighter, "Yes sir."

Alec held his gaze for a long time. "If anything happens to her…"

There were nods of understanding around the room, and Max felt a surge of anger: of course Alec would entrust Ben with her well being, Ben was the only one around who possibly cared as much for her! But to put him in command of the Niners…

"Alec—"

"I don't have time to hear it, Max." Alec cut across her, catching one of her hands in his. "I need you to trust me, and not question anything. We've been working on a redeployment strategy for years, we have it down. They're my people too."

She knew that, always had, but the earnest, no nonsense way he was handling everything was kinda driving the point home. "Be safe." She said, instead, knowing that it may only be at the rendezvous that she would see him.

Alec took a long moment, searching her eyes for something before he pulled her into his arms, kissing her with everything he had. "You get there safe, Maxie." He whispered against her lips, "You get there safe, because I'm not ready to let you go."

"I will." She promised, and the words felt heavy, like the promise was something physical, now binding her to him. Only after he let go of her hand did she realize that she was being pulled away—Ben was on the radio, yelling to their brothers and sisters to pull back, to meet at the motor pool. She allowed herself one last look at Alec—already moving on to the next task—before following Ben's incessant tugging.

She could feel it in her heart of hearts, it was going to be a while before she saw him again.


	4. Chapter 4

The explosions were even closer now, and Alec braced his hand against the table, keeping it stable from the aftershock. "How many have we evacuated?"

For a long moment, no one answered, until finally, X5-156 called out, "X6s and 8s are out! Med bay's been cleared and we've got the stable wounded shipping out now." She paused, her pale blue eyes wide. "Medics warned we might not have time to stabilize the rest of the wounded for transport."

"Then tell them to work faster, Shilo! We are inot/i leaving our people behind!" Alec roared, and the female was already running up the stairs, carrying out her improbable orders. "Any word on who exactly we're fighting? Children of the Runes has a nice ring to it, but I need to know iwhat/i designations."

"I've got Biggs!" Dix called from the corner, headset nearly obscuring his face. "He's requesting a tactical retreat: apparently they've set fires ieverywhere/i."

"Granted, but tell him to get me those designations!" Dix spun back around, radioing back even as Alec turned back to the bustling room. "I want the units pulled back now, and the rest of you are going to get ready to go mobile. Someone help Dix," He added as an afterthought, and the scrawny Anomaly gave him a thankful smile.

Felix stepped up beside him, holding out a slightly singed folder. "Tally of supplies, including the cuts we made to fit in people."

Alec scanned the list, his frown deepening. "Mole's gonna have a shitfit when he sees the ammo lost."

"We're counting on there being munitions stores," Keegan piped up, a rucksack already on her back and another in her hand. "Long shot, but it's all we got." She shoved the extra bag at Alec, upsetting some of the papers on the makeshift war-table. "Cleared out your apartment; sorry I couldn't grab the tv."

Alec rolled his eyes, and waited for her to head out before turning back to Felix. "And the explosion?"

"Set the charges around the perimeter. I've got the trigger on a dead-man's switch, so if anything happens…" His words trailed off dangerously, but it was the dangerous Alec wanted.

"How far is the clear?"

"Few yards. We'll be hit by a decent shock wave, but won't do anything more than blow out windows."

Alec turned, suspicious of his older clone. "What, exactly, did you decide to blow up TC with? That sounds tame for you."

Felix shot him a look. "You didn't ask what it will do to TC. They're high-intensity- thermobaric charges."

It took a minute for Alec to process the sentence, and then, "A fucking fuel-air bomb? They're gonna suffer like hell."

"And iyou/i want the United States to think we blew ourselves up. No matter what we do, there will never be enough bodies here to convince them we iall/i died." He took a deep breath. "Yeah, they're going to have a fucking painful death, but there will be inothing/i left of Terminal City."

Alec swallowed down his reservations, knowing that Felix was right. "You better head towards the transports."

"No fucking way." Alec snapped his attention back to Felix, who was standing there, looking like Alec was the biggest idiot in the world. "Like I'm gonna leave your sorry ass here by yourself. I leave when you leave."

"iI'm/i not leaving till the last field medics have reported in. You need to get out there—you've got a mate, and are the only other Alpha here." He glared at his taller, darker clone. "You need to keep 493 and his group of Niners in line."

Felix crossed his arms, leaning against the shaking wall. "No."

The snarl that escaped him didn't even deter 496. "Felix…"

"Isn't your radio buzzing?"

Alec shot him one last look before snatching the radio off the table. "Repeat?"

The voice on the other end was tinny and distorted by the background noise, but it was clearly a request to pull out—that people would be left—

"Go! Just get to the motor pool!" Alec yelled, finally admitting to himself that he wasn't going to be able to save everyone. "Felix, you better get your ass—"

"Sir." Felix was already running up the stairs, and Alec was only steps behind him. They bolted from the ransacked X5 housing, catching up with the retreating units and the few field triage survivors.

Gunfire sounded behind them, and Alec risked a glance backwards, trying to get a good view of whoever was leading this insane attack. The male's face was obscured by what looked like a muzzle flash, and then Alec wasn't on his feet any more.

"Commander down!" Felix yelled, skidding in his attempt to change direction. Despite the hail of bullets, Biggs and one of the field medics followed him. Biggs took up return fire even as Lymph dropped his med kit, already assessing his commanding officer's injury. "Can we move him?"

"Can't see the wound, but there's a lot of blood." Lymph frowned, fully aware of the dire circumstances that surrounded them.

"Winged…winged me." Felix snapped his gaze down, surprised to see Alec's eyes open, and his hand reaching towards his temple. "X3-7 isn't a particularly good shot." He struggled to a seated position, helped by Lymph, and then Felix scooped him into his arms. "Whoa!"

"We needed to displace iyesterday/i." Biggs hissed at him, still firing into the oncoming rush of transgenics. "I don't think you're up for running, boss."

"Conceded." Alec groaned, wincing in pain as Lymph applied a field bandage to his wound while Felix ran. "How are you even keeping up?"

"Practice." Lymph grunted, adding a second layer of adhesive.

"I'm gonna be out of ammo in ten rounds!" Biggs yelled—only to jump out of the way as one of the transport vehicles crashed through the nearest building, cutting off the retreating transgenics from the zealots pursuing them.

Mole stuck his head out of the driver's side window, "Are you coming or what?" Without hesitation, Biggs leapt in, extending a hand to Lymph, who, in turn, grabbed Alec from Felix. As soon as 496 was in, Mole hit the gas, throwing them all against the back of the transport. "We're the last ones out. "

"Let me know when we've cleared TC by 4 yards." Felix demanded, pulling Alec to rest against him. "We need to be out of the blast—"

"There, Princess!"

Felix finally released the small device he held clenched in his left hand. There was a whoosh, and then pressure wave that knocked the van sideways, sending them flying into an abandoned building. Alec pushed himself to the window, only to see TC erupting in a cyclone of flame and rubble—and he could hear the screams of the ones who had been at the edge of the explosion—

Mole was cursing, but, through a series of maneuvers , managed to get their vehicle righted and out of the building. "Felix, I thought we agreed ino/i HITs." He grumbled around his cigar.

"Aw, does the thought of those people dying from ruptured and burning lungs bother you?" Felix snapped, "Because I'm pretty sure you weren't on their Christmas list."

"We needed TC igone/i, you dinosaur." Alec struggled once again to a seated position, allowing Lymph to double check his wound. "Biggs, any idea exactly who we took out?"

At that, Biggs frowned. "Too many. Pretty much every surviving X from 2-3, a couple of 4s and 6s. About four units total, but those were only the ones I saw fighting."

"And my people?" Mole demanded, glancing in the rearview.

Biggs didn't meet his eyes. "The only ones there were the ones they made 'examples' of. I'm so sorry, Mole. Cera…" Mole's grip tightened on the wheel, but the lizard man said nothing, clenching his teeth on his cigar. "They were freaks. And they got put down like they deserved."

"Wouldn't count on that." Felix announced, still looking out the rear window. "This was an organized attack; planned. They knew we were preparing to mobilize, so there is a good probability that they snuck a few of theirs in. Though I can vouch for Lymph."

The nearly completely white X4 rolled his eyes. "iThanks/i, Felix. Really."

"How many wounded didn't make it out?" Alec demanded, forcing Lymph's attention back to him. "How many did we…murder?"

Lymph gave a soft sigh. "Twenty. 8 X5s, 10 X6s and 2 X8s."

Alec balked. "The X8s were all cleared!"

"Not the ones ithey/i had." Lymph said, grimly. "We would have lost them anyway, their forces wouldn't let any field medics near their fallen." The statement sank in, and for a long moment, the only noise was the van's speeding through Seattle's streets.

After what seemed like an hour, Alec took a deep breath, as if bracing himself. "We know they we organized, and we know they have people in with ours. What are we going to do about it?"

"Depends on how quickly they show their allegiances. But I'm not sure killing them is going to help." Felix stated, frowning. "Martyrdom and all that."

"Should we even be discussing this? " Lymph asked, but fell silent as he caught glares from the others.

"I don't think we know how this will go down till we get to Wyoming. We're going to have to be on guard." Biggs said.

Alec scoffed a bit, "And hope that Maxie doesn't turn into an etch-a-sketch again."


	5. Chapter 5

It was a sixteen hour drive, but Max was still amped by the time the Gamma Unit pulled into the motor pool in Wyoming. She practically bolted from the van—only to find herself being pulled backwards.

"I wouldn't do that, little sister." Syl advised, loosening her grip and allowing Max to fix her rumpled clothing. "We have to wait for Ben."

Max cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Didn't think you forgot that whole 'challenge' thing." Ben climbed out of the van, giving a nod to Devon before stepping over to where Syl had caught their little sister. "Alec put me in charge of Gamma. It's the only amount of respect iwe/i" he gestured vaguely towards their small unit, "have gotten. That means I've got to figure out where we're being sent."

"Sent?" Max wrinkled her nose. "Shouldn't we be able to choose where we live?"

Ben frowned at her. "The only reason you got to choose where you stayed in TC was because you were a co-leader. I mean, even Alec stayed in the X5 barracks."

"Which is where you guys will be heading." A rather familiar voice said from behind them. The unit turned as one, and both Ben and Syl snapped a salute. For her part, Keegan looked exasperated. "Your transport was overdue; why?"

"Fuel." Syl supplied.

Keegan accepted the answer with a nod, before turning to address Ben, completely ignoring Max. "You are to report to your old barracks…if you think you can remember where they were; it's been, what, twelve, thirteen years?" Her lip twitched, and Max felt a very strong urge to give this female a very hard punch. "And that's where you're staying until Alec figures out a better situation."

"iYou're/i in charge?"

Only now did Keegan fix Max with a very hard glare. "Just who were you expecting? After Alec, Felix and I are the highest ranking Alphas, and as neither of them are here…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "Do you even iremember/i how rank works? Never mind, I really don't wanna know. 701."

Syl snapped to attention, "Sir."

Max snickered a bit, but both Syl and Keegan glared at her. "Obviously 452 needs some reminding of how things work in a military facility. I trust iyou/i remember?" Syl nodded in response. "Good. Benji, get your niners tucked away; not to be ruder than usual, but you're getting some looks." Keegan glanced over her shoulder, and, indeed, their unit was getting glares. The rest of her unit hopped to, but Max hung back, staring at the rather small Keegan with confusion. "I'm gonna start taking your glaring as a challenge, Max, and I don't think you can handle another loss."

"How did you even manage to become an alpha?" The words slipped out, and Max found herself regretting them instantly. Especially since Keegan didn't seem so tiny when she was suddenly right in your face.

"You referring to my size or my gender?"

Max swallowed hard, very aware the rest of her unit was watching, tense. "Uh…both?"

Thankfully Keegan seemed more exasperated than angry with the question. "We have just as many female alphas as males, but they tend to avoid each other and rarely need to fight for rank. And as to my size…" She gestured towards her 5'2'' frame, "I'm a lot stronger than I look. And I idon't/i lose." She glanced over her shoulder again, and then fixed Max with a hard stare. "You better get moving. And take this bit of advice: keep your head down."

Max nodded, accepting her dismissal and running to catch up with the rest of her unit.

"They should have been here by now." Keegan stared out towards the long, hidden drive, partially obscured by overgrown vegetation. "Dix, did you get any communications?"

The anomaly frowned, shaking his head. "Sorry, sir." And then, slightly more tentatively, "You're worried about Felix." When Keegan started, looking surprised, Dix only smiled. "Hey, I would be too. I know how he is with demolitions."

She gave him a small smile. "Yes, he is rather…" She stopped herself, shaking her head. "We know TC was blown, but… Felix had it set on a deadman's switch."

Dix took a sharp breath in, "So they might not have made it out." Keegan didn't answer, instead turning back to her vigil over the road to Manticore.

Alec knew the second they pulled up the drive there was some big shit going down. The five of them carefully exited the van, a little surprised to see the ring of transgenics, and some sort of fight.

"Isn't Keegan supposed to be keeping them in line?" Mole asked, lighting up a new cigar.

"Which is exactly why this is so worrying." Felix announced, using his height to get a decent look over the crowd—"Fuck, Alec, there was no way she could stop this. They're going after the niners." Alec was already pushing through the crowd, ignoring Lymph's cries that he shouldn't exert himself, with Felix close behind. When they finally made it to the innermost ring, neither could believe their eyes.

Keegan was attempting to keep herself between the two units (if Alec wasn't mistaken, the other unit was Delta), and doing a damn good job of taking down anyone who tried to get past her on either side. But she couldn't stop the taunts.

"Why don't you hide with your precious humans?"

"Get out, traitors!"

"ENOUGH." Alec roared, grabbing the closest Delta unit member by the scruff of the neck and tossing him into the crowd. He pushed another back, and heard Felix's steps right behind his. The entire crowd fell quiet, not meeting either of their eyes. "105, I thought Gamma was supposed to be in barracks."

"They iwere/i." Keegan shot a glare over her shoulder at the said unit. "Apparently isomeone/i left something in the van, and needed to grab it."

Alec didn't need Keegan's glare to figure out who had gone off reservation. "And Trig? What did they do to provoke such a iviolent/i response?"

Trig, the alpha of Delta unit, pulled himself up to his full height. "No one wanted them around. When we itried/i to explain that the niners' van was already parked in lockdown, 452 got screechy."

"I did—"

"Shut up, Max." Alec fixed Trig with his hardest stare. "You were trained to deal with everything from mourning widows to wailing babies. How did 'getting screechy' escalate?"

"Gemma called her a whiny human." Trig admitted. "But we did inot/i start the physical fight."

"No, I did." Syl stepped forward, glaring through a rather nasty black eye. "I'm sick of them treating us like we're traitors. We were ten! Stupid! And none of these fucks can let it go. It's been nearly ithirteen fucking years/i."

Alec gave a cursory sniff, and cocked an eyebrow. "493, if 701 isn't your second, you probably should address that. She nearly out-ranks you." Ben glowered. "But, even if ione/i unit attacked, how did this end up involving all of you? No, wait, I think I figured that one out." He shot a glare at Max. "But as for iyour/i unit, 314, why did any of them get provoked? Aren't you better trained then that?"

The jibe obviously struck Trig hard, and he glared up at Alec. "Well, isir/i, when 701 took out three of ours—"

Alec couldn't help himself, "Three?" He turned, giving Syl a once over. "What was your specialty?"

"Ninjitsu." She breathed, still glaring at Trig.

Alec turned back to Trig, "I'm starting to think this was more out of embarrassment. And if a group of niners embarrassed you, maybe your unit should start train—"

Trig launched himself at Alec with a growl, and Alec sidestepped, allowing him to run headlong into Felix, who easily flipped the other male into a headlock. "Alec?" Felix questioned, tightening his arm as Trig struggled.

"Give him a minute to think it through." Alec said, stepping right up and meeting Trig's eyes unflinchingly. "If he really wants to challenge ime/i, let him." Felix released Trig, but Trig dropped his gaze, stepping back towards his battered unit. "I thought not. Now, let me make this very iclear/i." he pitched his voice so all of the surrounding transgenics could hear him clearly, "If anyone is unable to tolerate a niner, I suggest you get off this base; we're a struggling population, and if you have iany/i consideration for the continuation of our species, you'll iignore/i them if you can't tolerate them. Anyone who has an issue with this can speak up inow/i."

"We wouldn't ibe/i a struggling population if ishe/i hadn't blown up Manticore." Trig snarled— The fight was on before Max even knew it. Keegan had pushed her and Gamma unit back, Felix keeping the rest of Delta back—though it seemed mostly for safety rather than to avoid anyone jumping in. And this was inothing/i like when Max had challenged him.

Alec had already been wounded coming into the fight—the graze to his head was still making him dizzy—but Trig was really only an alpha by default. And while he iwas/i an exceptional fighter, iAlec/i was more.

It started with blows coming straight out of the Manticore training, until Alec dropped to all fours, sweeping out Trig's leg and then ipouncing/i on the other male. Trig flipped him over his head, but Alec landed on his feet, already rushing back before Trig had managed to get back onto his feet. The blow to his face was devastating—Max could see Trig's jaw dislocate with the force of the punch. "I'm giving you one more chance to stand down." Alec growled, blood dripping into his face from the re-opened bullet wound, "Otherwise you know what I have to do."

Trig, despite being constantly bested by the smaller male, laughed. "You can try, but I think I'll kill you first."

The feral smile that spread over Alec's features was frightening, and even Trig lost a little of his swagger. "Well, fine then." And he straightened himself up, coming out of the fighting stance and allowing himself to be completely unguarded. Max wanted to call out a warning—Alec left himself open like that deliberately, it had been her biggest mistake in thinking she could take him—but Trig was already rushing him. The snap of his neck echoed loudly in the garage.

"Once more, anyone else feel like challenging orders?" Alec growled, his voice not remotely human. Not a single person met his eyes, even Felix and Keegan were carefully training their gaze. "Now, you all better get the fuck outta here. Gemma, you're commander of Delta: you better keep them better reigned in than Trig." The crowd dispersed, but Alec stalked forward, grabbing Ben by the arm and making sure his unit stayed behind. "493, if you can't keep control over the people in your unit, I iwill/i remove you as standing alpha for the niners. "

Ben nodded, "Sir."

"You're also getting a new unit mate. Mole, get over here!" The lizard-man jogged over, it cigar only halfway smoked. "Gamma Unit, meet your handler."

"We don't need a handler." Syl grumbled, shooting a petulant glare at Mole.

"I think you do." Alec said, slowly circling the unit. Max wasn't sure if they noticed, but all of them cringed tighter together. "Firstly, unless Keegan ireally/i didn't follow procedure, you were told to report to your old barracks and remain there until iI/i was here to address the situation, which you didn't do. Secondly, 493's soft spot for ilittle sister/i seems to mean he can't tell her ino/i, Mole is here to step in and keep you lot out of trouble." A weird emotion flickered over his face—"Dismissed." He spun on his heel, heading towards the van he had just left when it seemed he lost control of his legs.

Felix was right there, catching him before he hit the ground, Keegan on his other side. Biggs was shouting for Lymph to get his ass out of the van, and Max found herself struggling against Mole to get to Alec. "You were given an order." Mole said, gently, glancing towards her unit, which was, albeit slowly, heading towards their barracks. "And Princess will be fine—got grazed. Shouldn't have been fighting so soon after, but you Xs never can seem to resist a fight for dominance." When Max didn't move, he gave her a little shove. "Come on, boss, I really don't want to pull rank."

Max's gaze was still over his shoulder, where Alec was being violently ill as both Biggs and Felix looked amused and Lymph looked slightly panicked. "I…I can't leave. I need to know—"

"This isn't time for romance, boss. You guys need to make a real good show of following orders, otherwise some other unit is going to start in again. Alec's command only goes so far." He gave her a gentle push. "Come on, back to barracks."

She only reluctantly followed him, her concern still on the one male she ever loved.

"Oh, aren't concussions fun?" Biggs chuckled as Alec vomited again. "All that swaying and vertigo…"

"I don't think you're helping." Felix said, a smile creeping over his features. "But maybe this is a lesson on why he shouldn't take ievery/i challenge. All that bobbing and weaving…" Alec hurled again, and that set both Biggs and Felix into more laughter.

Lymph shot them both a glare, attempting to get a good look at Alec's pupils. "Shouldn't have let you out there—this looks like one nasty concussion."

"I'm fine." Alec announced, forcing himself to swallow back down the bile. "Just i really/i dizzy." He attempted to stand, but found himself back on his hands and knees, throwing up. "Oh gods, can the world stop spinning now?"

"Don't close your eyes, it will be worse." Lymph warned.

"I think he knows that." Felix said, gently rubbing his younger brother's back. "Alec, you know you can't do this here."

"I know." Alec coughed, gagging again. "Can you get me to Phoenix unit's bunks?"

"Is Biggs a whiney bitch?"

Alec really wanted to roll his eyes at Biggs' outraged stutter, but he knew the vertigo would not be worth it. "Just get me there, and Keegan—point Lymph towards the med-bay." He ducked down as another wave of vertigo hit him, and he gagged, but there was nothing left to come up. "Ok, maybe me too."


	6. Chapter 6

Alec sighed, shaking his head. Of course the yelling would be coming from Gamma Unit's quarters. He knew he should have come by sooner—it had nearly been a week since they displaced from TC—but between the demands of getting the base operational and getting over the rather bad concussion, he had no time.

By now, he had given everyone their standing orders, had gotten the chain of command back in place, and even had started dividing the different factions of transgenics into their own areas. There had already been two instances of fighting, and he wasn't keen on any more. Which was made opening the door to Gamma unit's barracks so much harder.

"Do you realize I could hear you freaking two hallways down?" The fighting transgenics turned towards him, looking comical in their shock. "And seriously, 493, are you even itrying/i to keep control of your unit?"

Ban glared at him. "Yeah, I'm trying. But even iyou/i couldn't get Maxie to listen to you."

Alec sighed, turning his attention to Max, who looked like she was about ready to spit hellfire at him. "I iwas/i coming here to give you guys an update, but apparently ithis/i is more important…"

"Well, yeah, if you still think there's an ius/i." Max snarled. The entire room went silent.

Alec locked his gaze with hers. "493, I think you and 701 need to stay, the rest of your unit should probably make its way to the mess hall." They moved without question, only risking a passing glance at their commander. "Now, iMax/i, what did I do now?"

"This whole time you've had us confined here, not telling us anything, not telling ime/i anything. Just locking us away!" Max yelled, looking extremely pissed off.

Which was both awesome and unfortunate, as she looked extremely beautiful when she was pissed, but he ireally/I didn't need this. "Gamma is low on the need to know list. And you aren't even on it anymore." He spoke slowly, clearly, not wanting her to get more upset though he knew the news would not be welcome. "The position of co-president has been dissolved by popular vote, and that means you get intel when your unit does." He swallowed hard. "Which is why I'm here." Max was seething, but quiet.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "So, what's going on?"

Alec sighed, settling himself down on a bunk he knew was 701's, especially since her scent was so strong. "Same as back in TC: we got everyone back to work, whole facility is operational again—still working on internet, but give Dix another day or two—and we still have the 'normal' versus the 'animal' issues again. But there's something else." He spared a glance at the still seething Max before turning and looking squarely at Ben and Syl. "All unit leaders are weighing in. That cult knew we were displacing, they planned the blitz attack as a cover for operatives infiltrating our group. Unfortunately that means that the three and a half units we originally counted is probably a lot higher. Which, as you know, means we have a lot of religious fanatics playing nice, waiting for the right time to strike. They may even have standing orders." He paused. "So, do we wait, or do we preemptively strike?"

Max sputtered, seemingly lost for words in her outrage. Ben and Syl were both deep in thought, and Alec was glad they were taking it so seriously. Yeah, he hated 493, and only tolerated him for Max's sake, but 701 he was starting to like more and more. Syl—he reminded himself—she goes by Syl. He knew he'd never win points with her entire unit, but, perhaps, some of them were a bit more Manticore then he had first thought.

Unfortunately, the silence had only served to help Max find her own words, "You can't persecute people for their beliefs! It's wrong, and, god, sends us back to the dark ages!"

"Fair point," Alec conceded, "but it's not like you really get a say anymore, Maxie." His subtle reminder shocked her back into silence, and Alec mentally slapped himself—but this was bigger than him and Max, and he needed to remember that.

"I don't agree, sorry Max." Syl announced, glancing towards Ben. "I saw what these people did. They imurdered/i the non-cult transgenics who were in their sector. I vote for ferretting the bastards out."

Alec glanced at Max—looking shocked by Syl's difference of opinion—and then settled his gaze on 493. The two of them were twins—well, more clones then anything biologically—and people always confused them for each other…but he wasn't sure why. Felix was identical in facial features too, but Alec and 493 had never been confused for him. Granted, Felix was also 6'2'' with jet black hair, but Alec knew there were tells between him and Ben. For one thing, 493's hair was darker, more brown than blonde; another was that he had a lighter dusting of freckles. And 493 always had hazel eyes, a sort of mix of Alec's cat-green and Felix's deep brown. Perhaps, though, what made people confused was 493's facial expressions: it was like looking in a mirror, if, perhaps, less feral. That shocking thought brought Alec back to the task at hand with surprising force.

And 493 had finally looked up. "I think we need to find out more about these guys, maybe even try to get someone in." He met Alec's gaze, "And then we wipe them out."

"Ben!" Max screeched, stepping forward and reaching for her brother, "How can you? They're ius/i."

"No, they're imurderers/i. And trust me, I should know, right?" 493 made a brave attempt at a smile, and Alec felt a begrudging bit of respect for his older twin. "They have no qualms executing people who don't feel the same as they do."

There was a long silence as Alec weighed his words. "Well, that about settles it." Max was standing there, trembling in silent anger, and he wanted so bad to hold her, to tell her how sorry he was… "Mole's working on setting up a guard for you. All of you." He gestured vaguely to the room that housed Gamma. "We have no idea if they're going to try to kill or kidnap you guys. Didn't that Jesus dude have family?" Alec gave a little shrug. "I may hate you, but I don't want you dead…" He paused, looking 493 dead in the eye and making his meaning perfectly clear, "anymore. And the rest of your unit is showing some definite promise."

493 took a moment to respond, seemingly in shock by Alec's statement. And yeah, he would be; Alec had made it very clear that only Max's affection for him kept him alive. "Thank you, sir."

"Would you and Syl mind if I spoke to Max alone for a minute?" The change in his tone even surprised Max. "It's a bit more personal than strategy."

"Only if Max ok's it." Syl said, giving Alec a curious look.

But 493 put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head. "Trust me, they need to talk."

Alec glared at him. "Don't look so smug." However, 493's expression didn't change, and Alec cursed himself. He was starting to ilike/i the guy.

She was beyond pissed. She had no idea of a word that could possibly describe the feeling coursing through her. The slap, however, seemed to do a well enough job. Alec stared at her, looking completely flabbergasted. "I'm leaving." She declared, starting towards the door. But there he was again, in her way, still rubbing his cheek. "Get out of my way."

"I ihad/i wanted to apologize, but now I'm not so sure." He frowned, giving his cheek one last rub before looking down into her deep brown eyes. "That hurt."

"You're not funny. And move!"

"No." He caught her wrists easily, pulling her in close. "Maxie, I am so, so sorry. I didn't protect you—fuck, my third in command was the one who had the foresight to pull you out! I didn't stress how important it was for you to understand the whole pack hierarchy. I let you challenge me, I ihurt/i you, and then had to order some things I know you hate." He dared glance up, and was surprised to see her watching him carefully. "Some of the things have to be done and while conserving our species is of the utmost importance, we can't tolerate them because they already have shown they won't tolerate us. And as to the rest…" He looked away, finally releasing her wrists, "What can I say? I was stupid. Really fucking stupid."

Her lips on his was about the last thing he was expecting, but he returned the kiss, even placing a hand on her cheek. She smiled against his lips, "You are stupid. Especially for thinking you needed to pull me out; you had no idea they'd go after command. And you iknow/i I still don't understand that damn pack whatever."

"But you're still pissed that I'm taking action against the cult." He cocked his head to the side, frowning. "The Familiar Cult was fine to take out, but this one isn't? I'm kinda not understanding your logic, and, to be honest, as both your…well, um…"

Max rolled her eyes, surprised as hell that her anger was not raging, but had quelled to almost an agitation. "They are our ipeople/i, Alec. And I know you said Manticore trained you all not to believe—"

"That's not entirely true." She stared at him, mouth still hanging open as her sentence remained unfinished. Alec sighed, really, ireally/i not wanting to have this conversation and hating himself for even interrupting her. "We're not atheists, Max, it's just… well, humans have so many gods, right? And they don't seem to know how to worship or whatever without needing to kill isomeone/i...so we kinda just...don't do religion. We know at least sixty percent of the gods we read about wouldn't take offense to us."

Her look of disbelief was rather amusing. "You're trying to tell me that you guys actually iresearched/i?"

The look he gave her was almost confused. "Isn't religion a big deal? You don't just make a decision like that without knowing what is expected of you."

She sputtered her words, "You're not supposed to reason these things!"

"Maybe," he said, starting to smile, "that's the exact reason why you ishould/i. Besides, while we're iexcellent/i at war, we generally like to avoid it. Causes death and such."

Max was still upset, still angry, but she felt the corners of her mouth twitch despite herself. "Knock it off!"

Alec raised his eyebrows. "Knock what off?"

"Making it so hard to be angry with you!" She stormed over to her bunk, sitting on it in a huff. "And the whole compartmentalizing bull shit! I want you to be mad, to be upset!"

He knelt in front of the cot, sighing. "Maxie, I ican't/i. I need to put our people before ieverything/i." He had his hand in his pocket, and seemed to be holding something as if it was a talisman. Her curiosity was peeked, but Alec was still speaking. "I wish it wasn't me. Fuck, I really wish I could just pass this off…but it's not like I can step down. You've seen a ireal/i challenge, Max; it ends with a death."

She sighed, willing herself not to cry with frustration. "I never even thought…You're more animal than I ever knew, ever…guessed."

"I'm a good actor."

His voice was full of forced calm; he was scared. Not of her—she doubted he could ever be afraid of her physically—but she had a distinct feeling that, at this exact moment, she could crush his very soul. It made her choose her words very carefully. "Alec, I had no idea that me and my family were the minority in wanting to be human. I never thought anyone would ever not want to be…normal. And, maybe worse, I don't know if I ican/i figure it out." She bit her lip, trying not to meet his eyes, "But I want you. And I just don't know what that means." He was holding that thing in his pocket again, and Max frowned, worried that she had said something…well, she wasn't sure. Because she wasn't sure how ishe/i felt.

"I want you too, Max. And I love you. But I can't…I can't keep pretending to be something I'm not. I mean, you have no idea…" He bit his lip, "Let's leave it at I love you."

"It's the most important part." She agreed, leaning forward to press a kiss to his forehead. "I love you too, and maybe after we get this settled…"

He jerked back, looking alarmed, "Oh hell no."

She gave him a look. "I can't separate us from what's going on. I still think you're being too rash, too harsh and it makes me…" She trailed off, realizing she was working herself up again. "I'm not good at this."

"And you think I am?"

"You're a lot better at it than I am."

He sighed. "I have a lot more practice."

He started to stand, but Max stopped him, pulling him into a deep kiss. "This isn't over. Us. Never."

She could feel him smile against her lips. "Never, Maxie."

She kissed him once more before voicing her final fear: "Do you really think that all of this will be ok?"

He smiled that damn cocky smile, "Of course. Just as long as you don't go etcha-sketching again."

"You should have just let them fight." Felix frowned when Keegan pulled away, and he followed, continuing to mop up the mess that was currently her face. "Seriously, those X7s are freaks; let the two hives fight it out. It's not like they even listen to us. I don't think they even realized they relocated."

For her part, Keegan was making the cleanup as hard as she could. "No in-fighting." She winced away as he brushed peroxide over a cut through her eyebrow. "Do you think you can stop?"

Felix ignored her. "And what exactly did you cut ithem/i with?"

She held up her hand, smirking. "Finally got my claws to extend. It's been, what, 6 years of trying now?"

"Impressive. So, what, that makes four of you?"

"Twelve." Keegan responded, allowing him to continue to mop her up even as she extended and retracted her claws. "Nine females, three males. But Dix confirmed that the Manticore medical records show all Xs 2 through 5 have these claws. I guess it's like being able to do that tongue twist-y thing." She frowned, and Felix paused in his clean up, watching his mate closely. "I just don't think the news is going to help right now."

"It iis/i rather animal." Felix agreed, pulling her close despite the blood. "But, I dunno, makes you sexier somehow." He nipped at her neck, and she made a purring noise in the back of her throat. "You do know Alec is going to be ipissed/i when he learns how many X7s you put into ICU."

"Which, by the way, thanks for the back up." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Wasn't expecting to have to break that up alone."

Felix shifted uncomfortably. "I don't go near those freaks." He said, finally applying a bandage to the wound above her eye. "Manticore got very creative in their punishments towards the end, and…just no."

Keegan kissed him, pressing her forehead against his, new bandage itching a little bit. "You should tell me these things."

"And you shouldn't just go rushing into fights with midgets… Seriously, just because they're the same size as you does not mean you have an advantage." She smacked him, and he grinned at her. "Come on, you still look like you're auditioning for iCarrie/i."

"Ooo, you're gonna escort me to the showers?" she asked, her eyes sparkling.

Felix's grin widened. "I'm at your service, baby girl. Here to help scrub all those hard to reach places." She laughed, but got up, pulling him playfully along after her.

He watched them leave, slightly nauseated with their playful flirting, their purrs and growls. The fact they were some of the people currently in charge made him physically sick. And how could anyone think this was ok?

He had to hide it, though. He was on a mission. And if all went well, 496 and 105 would be taken out with a good portion of their animal friendly lieutenants. Then the hard part: getting 494 out of the picture.

He didn't question it. After all, it wasn't as if ihe/i could read the runes. He was there to secure the safety and ihumanity/i of their Savior; he'd leave the interpretation of the runes to the Prophet.


	7. Chapter 7

"So, I've got some good news."

Alec picked his head up from the table, looking pleasantly surprised. "Finally."

Dix shifted uncomfortably under the sudden weight of the entire council's eyes on him. "Well…I broke through Manticore's encryption on the computers they left behind. Still can't access their external servers—and once they figure out we're here, they may disband external communications entirely—but I have everything they stored. Data's a few years behind—no mention of breeding compatibility in any of these reports—but it should help the medical team with the recent influx of seizures."

"That's excellent, Dix." As the anomaly practically beamed under the praise, Alec felt his stomach twist. There was too much tension in the air. "What else was on the agenda?"

"Housing issues and concerns." Syl announced, glancing down at the meeting notes. Every member of the council shifted uncomfortably—here was the big topic of the day.

"Ok, I know this is hard, but we're going to have to stick it out a little longer. We can't start reorganizing personal until we have this place up and running. And, if I'm not mistaken, there are several entire iunits/i that will need to be refit." Alec sighed, "Go ahead, Shilo."

X5-156 nodded briefly, "It needs to be addressed sooner rather than later; there have been a growing number of insubordination incidents between Alphas and different-minded unit-mates."

"Transhumans are getting threatened again too." Mole piped up, "Nothing past words, but that will change, and soon."

Alec frowned, shaking his head, "Look, this icult/i is who we should be dealing with right now—"

"Damnit, Alec!" Alec's gaze snapped to 493, who was now standing, with Syl looking quite worried and still sitting in her chair. "The plan was never to co-exist even for a short while! We can't keep this up. Isn't this why TC burned in the first place?"

There was a pregnant pause before Felix quietly said, "No, TC burned because that icult/i started a fire fight that was sure to get us nuked. Did you honestly think that when we wanted to leave, we were iplanning/i on killing everyone who stayed behind to support Max?"

493 sputtered, "No! Damnit, you know what I mean!"

"And he has a point." Keegan agreed. Felix glanced at his mate in surprise, but she held up her hand. "We just burned the one home we've had in an effort to convince the government we wiped ourselves out. The cult is a big problem, but wouldn't separating the two factions help with identifying cult members?" She glanced around at the assembled alphas of every unit that had survived Manticore. "We know they ihate/i us animal-acting transgenics with a passion, it would certainly narrow the pool of suspicion."

"And you have ready made spies." Gemma said, speaking up for the first time since she had been made alpha of Delta Unit. "I know there are members of my unit who are pushing for separation—none of them are cultists, and they all have a loyalty to transgenics first."

Alec nodded, processing the wealth of information. "Ok. Well, first things first: how far is this segregation going to go? Because, honestly, we don't have the resources to make it truly 'separate but equal'."

"And we don't have the numbers," Misha said, glumly, "But I do know that most of us just want to…I dunno, be more normal." The X5 gave a sad sigh, shaking his head. "I suggest that it's only living areas that are segregated."

Alec fought hard to keep his expression neutral. "It hasn't really been the living areas that have the problems."

Misha frowned, looking confused. "Sir, the only complaints I've ever heard from human-acting transgenics have been the territory and heat issues; we just don't want to be forced to find somewhere else to spend the night because there was a testosterone or estrus related fight."

"Can I just say how the ifuck/i do you guys keep your cool like that?" Gemma asked, leaning over the table. "Seriously? I mean, I'm not complaining; you guys are a big help if heat hits unexpected, but…is it like, awesome self control?"

"You seriously put iher/i in charge of Delta?" Felix whispered in Alec's ear, "I thought you were just saying things 'cause you were concussed."

He sighed, giving Felix a little shove. "Gemma, shut up."

"But—"

"The answer is simply that they have less animal dna in their reproductive systems." Dix said, once again shocking the room to silence. "What? I said I cracked the encryption. That meant I had to iread/i the data." He shifted uncomfortably. "Anyway, while the X5s with less animal dna in their reproductive systems have less of a desire to claim and breed, they still are part of the pack hierarchy—hence the general consensus of Alec as our leader."

There were nods and whispers around the table. But Alec cocked his head to the side, looking between Misha and Dix. "Are you telling me that this is or isn't a pheromone thing."

"It's both. Every transgenic can scent, can challenge, can find their place in the huge pack that is, in general, the transgenic nation. The…less animal ones have more control over their fighting and breeding instincts because they get less of the hormone and pheromones pumping through their system. Doesn't mean they won't fight—Misha is living proof that you can earn your way to being an alpha without needing the extra hormones that say you or Ben would have." Dix finished.

Alec glanced at 493, a little surprised to find out ithat/i bit of intel, and then stood, addressing the entire room. "I want everyone to head back to their units. Get a full count of who wants to be more human and who wants to be more…natural. And keep the phrasing neutral: we don't want to offend anyone into making the choice that's not best for them. I want the full list on my desk tomorrow morning. I want housing to go over every room available—we're keeping the X7s and 8s in barracks, but we'll try to keep everyone older to the dorms. And I need a list of mated or married pairs. Shilo, you're in charge of housing division, and keeping it as fair as we can get. I want to see if there's any way these fucker's can be found, preferably without them knowing."

There was a long pause, and then Misha asked, very quietly, "Sir?"

"You told me every complaint you've had from the human acting against the animal acting has been the disputes and disruptions that occur around the living areas."

Misha nodded, "Yes sir. Besides heat—which we all know no one can control—general public behavior isn't the issue."

Alec started to smile, and the few in the room who had caught on did too. "Which means all these little scuffles and attacks on transgenics for acting animal in public have been part of this cult. The separation of living quarters will not only help narrow down our suspect pool, but shine a light on anyone who continues to have a problem."

He knew he had struck command gold when ievery single transgenic assembled/i nodded in agreement, coming to the first unanimous vote since all the X series, Transhumans and Anomalies got thrown together.

Max snarled despite herself. Everyone was staring at her, and it was getting really annoying. It had started just after Gamma Unit got its new housing assignments, on the human-acting side in the four rooms closest to Command, which had become the common ground separating the two factions of transgenics. Max had been walking down the hall one someone had gasped, and run back the way they had came. She hadn't been sure who, she hadn't really been paying attention, but after that, everyone seemed to take notice. She had gone to the mess hall, but there was even more staring.

So she had come back to the common room that linked all four of the rooms of her unit, only to find Syl and Jondy paused mid argument, staring at her. It wasn't surprising Syl was arguing with Jondy, the two argued over anything, but the fact they turned as one and both yelled for Ben was alarming. Worse was now she faced iall/i of her siblings, and they were all staring at her in horror.

"Why the fuck is everyone staring at me?" She demanded. "Keegan told me to keep my head down, and I've been keeping it down!"

"Well ithis/i," Ben said, breaking the silence and gesturing vaguely towards her face, "certainly isn't helping."

Max stared at ihim/i, at least until Jondy shoved a compact into her hand, and Max glanced down into the mirror it held.

And screamed.

"Whoa, now, not the best idea." Syl said, putting an arm around Max's shoulders. "This happened before, right? And they faded."

"But not before they managed to start a religion." Ben remarked, glumly. "And, ifuck/i how many people saw you today?" Max realized the question was rhetorical only after sputtering for a moment. "I'm sorry, Maxie, but I'm confining you to quarters until these new runes fade."

"I'll document them." Jondy volunteered, dashing to the room she shared with Krit and grabbing her camera.

Max pushed her away when she tried to take the first picture. "Hold on! I am inot/i being confined to quarters."

"I think it might be safer if you didn't fight this one, Maxie." Zane said, leaning against the door to his room. "There's a lot of unrest out there, and we still don't have a clear idea of who is or isn't in this cult."

"But you insisted on moving into the hot zone." Syl grumbled, storming into the room that Max had been surprised to learn she shared with iBen/i of all people. "I don't care how human you want to be, we don't care how anyone else acts, and it would be isafer/i by them."

Ben gave her a 'what can I do' look, and shrugged. "I ireally/i try to make everyone in this unit happy, Max. But this, this one is not up for debate. I also want at least two of us here with you at all times…just in case that guard Alec got set up doesn't come through."

Max huffed, hating this even more than she had hated the rather humiliating lecture Syl had given her on military procedure (which she hadn't actually needed, she just hated anything military). "Why the hell did Sandman have to play with imy/i genes?"

The corners of pretty much every one of her siblings quirked up. "Just lucky?" Krit supplied, breaking into a full on grin. Max huffed and stormed into her room, slamming the door just as the rest of her unit broke into full on laughter. Yeah, maybe they found it hilarious…but they didn't have first hand experience of the siege. Yeah, Ben did, but the rest of her family hadn't made their way to TC until a few months after the siege had ended. By then, the runes had vanished in all but the minds of the cult.

The fact the runes now dotted her face were pretty much ensuring that no one was going to forget this time.

"I gotta ask," Alec spun, not expecting the quiet voice from behind him. Keegan stood in the doorway to his room, peering at him in a way that made him feel like she was trying to figure something out. "You keep grabbing this thing in your pocket…a, what the fuck is it and b, why?"

Alec looked away, not wanting to meet his third in command's eyes. "Curiosity killed the cat, Keegan."

"Hasn't killed me yet." She walked the rest of the way into the room, sitting down at the edge of his bunk. "And it's not like you to keep everything so bottled up."

"Why don't you come right in." Alec said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, thank you." To his surprise, the voice came, again, from the doorway.

"Oh fuck, you're iboth/i interested?"

Felix grinned, joining his mate in sitting on the foot of Alec's bed. "Of course I am. I bet her fifty bucks that it has something to do with Max."

Alec glared at his brother. "You and your fucking curiosity." But, the two of them were still staring at him intently, so Alec sighed, and carefully slid the small black box out of his pocket. "And yeah, it's for Max."

To his surprise, neither one of them moved to open it. "Big step." Felix said, after a long moment. "And a bit surprising to be coming from you."

Alec glared at him again. "I'm not just going to bite her, Felix. I think she'd have an issue with that."

"You don't just bite them," Keegan huffed, "It just kinda happens during that…Mating. And it has to mean something, cause we normally just don't scar." She brought her hand up to touch the white semi-circle of scars where her neck met her shoulder. "Even a few of the so called 'married' transgenics ended up with these after the big wedding night. Claiming is in our dna."

"Yeah? What if Max is part of the transgenics that iaren't/i as animal as we are, eh?" Alec snarled, "Why is it so strange that I'd want to ask her to marry me?"

"It's not that, Alec," Felix said, looking amused, "It's that you're really not thinking." When Alec continued to stare at him, he sighed. "Sam, dumbass. Sam is just as animal as us, and she's Max's twin."

"iMy/i twin is on the other side—"

"To be fair, Alec, I don't think Benji will iever/i be on the same side as you for ianything/i." Keegan paused, "Except if it's keeping Max safe—he is certainly keen on that."

Alec stared at the two of them, unsure as to exactly what was being implied. "Just fucking say it already."

Felix gave him a look. "Little brother, the only reason Ben is on the 'human' side is because it's where iMax/i wants to be. But Max is just as animal as Sam, her itwin/i. So, yeah, propose to her, do the whole shebang—I'll even do fireworks—but just because she thinks she wants to be human inow/i doesn't mean she'll want to be later."

Alec considered them a moment, finally smiling. "So, you think she'll like it?"

"It's a very nice box." Keegan agreed, "Shiny."

He glanced at Felix, "Is she being serious?"

Felix, however, was also looking at Keegan, eyebrows raised. "You know, I really don't know."

"You know, it's what's iinside/i, Keega…forget it." He slipped the box back into his pocket, ignoring Felix and Keegan's bemused expressions. "If you're going to make fun of me, I'm gonna stop talking to you."

"It's cute, Alec, and not something we're entirely used to seeing from you." Felix said, chuckling. "I mean, you're trying so hard to be her picture of the perfect ihuman/i suitor, and she has no idea." He stood, clasping Alec on the shoulder. "I hope she says yes. And let me know about the fireworks."

"Yeah, no. You'll blow someone up." Keegan admonished, before looking back at Alec, almost shyly. "And, sometimes doing the human thing is cute. You should have seen Felix's face when I introduced myself as Keegan iMacGyver/i for the first time." She smiled fondly at her mate, who was blushing. "I may not know what she likes, but I have a hard time imagining she'd say no to you."

The smile seemed to brighten his entire face. "Ok, you two, I know you have to be in command." They both laughed, but continued on their way towards the main hall. He heard the door open, and then, Felix's voice.

"Alec? Benji's here. Want me to let him in?"

Alec froze. Felix and Keegan were leaving. Devon and Jace were in the mess hall and Biggs and Jewel were on post. He would be alone in quarters, with 493. A situation he hadn't been in since Manticore. Part of him was confused because he knew that he could take his older clone if it came down to a fight. But part of him was scared: he didn't like who he became around the one person who had made his life a living hell for over 10 years. "Alec?"

"Let him in." His voice was stronger than he felt, and Alec forced himself to leave his bedroom, heading into the common room just in time to see Felix closing the door. Ben was standing in the middle of the room, looking uncomfortable.

"All these little sections are identical, huh."

"Yep." Alec leaned against the door frame, wondering exactly why his clone was here. So he asked. "Why are you here, 493?"

Ben shifted uncomfortably, not allowing himself to look at his twin. "It's Ben. Please. My name is Ben."

"Fine. iBen/i." The word hung heavy in the air, as Alec realized it was the first time he had called his clone by his name. "Why are you here?"

Ben was smart enough to realize that Alec was inot/i happy being blindsided by his presence. "It's about Max—"

He had barely finished her name, and Alec was already talking: "What? What happened?"

"Holy fuck, why don't you calm the fuck down." Ben bit his lip, realizing that he had just fucked up, and bad.

Alec's entire body had tensed, and his eyes were practically glowing. "Excuse me?"

"You need to calm down." He took a step back. "Seriously. Max needs you to be…" he trailed off, realizing Alec was stalking forward.

"Max. Needs. Me. To. Be. iWhat/i."

ibThis/b is who Maxie wants to be with? This fucking banimal/b?/i The thought flashed through him like a bolt, Ben fighting a snarl. iAnd even after all this, he can't even blisten/b?/i "To be icalm/i. To actually ithink/i." He sneered. "We all know how you ilove/i beating the shit out of people to put them in their place, but, right now, this needs more than your love of violence."

Alec and him were nose to nose, both unflinching. "You want me to admit that I enjoyed beating the shit outta you back at Manticore? Fine. I iloved/i it. For the first half hour. I don't know if you iremember/i after all those hits to the head, but they started threatening ime/i too. And out here," he waved a hand airily, "What else am I supposed to do? iYou/i weren't there when we all went into puberty, when we all realized how animal we were. iYou/i weren't there when the urge to form a rank beyond the units Manticore divided us into hit, you weren't ithere/i when we realized that, no matter how hard we tried iwe'd always be a pack society/i." To Ben's surprise, Alec stepped back, looking away. "You guys just don't get it. And worse, I'm starting to think you ican't/i."

"We can. Syl and I have, haven't we?" Ben peered at his younger twin, wondering if, just maybe, he had earned that little bit respect that part of him had craved since he had seen what Manticore had put his twins through. If truth be told, Ben completely understood every one of the Phoenix Unit's hatred, understood Alec and Felix's most of all, as Manticore had subjected him to the same psychological torture they had put them through, albeit for a shorter time. He never really iliked/i Alec, or Felix for that matter, but he completely understood their hatred of him. Never expected it to change.

But Alec looked back at him, the ghost of a friendly smile playing across his features. "Yes. Yes you have." He paused, looking thoughtful, and then settling his weight back, his entire body relaxing from the fight it had been so ready to have. "You know, Benji, I think you're growing on me."

Ben wrinkled his nose, despite the fact he too was relaxing, finally not tense around his twin. "Please, not Benji. Keegan and Felix have gotten it in their heads that's my name, and—no. no." He shook his head, mind snapping back to the matter at hand. "Fuck! I have Max on lockdown."

Alec cocked an eyebrow, and he frowned. "Why?"

"Those runes appeared on her again—" He stopped, realizing Alec was already pushing past him, heading towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"Damnit, Ben! That should have been the ifirst/i thing you said! Fuck, why the hell does she keep etcha-sketching?"

Ben rolled his eyes, following Alec out of the quarters and down the hall, "I was itrying/i."

"Next time try harder!" Alec called over his shoulder, blurring towards Command. Ben started to blur to catch up when there was a strange-thuwump—

And Command exploded.


	8. Chapter 8

The explosion rocked the entire base, and Max leapt from her bunk in alarm, rushing into the common room, where Zane and Jondy were. Zane was holding his german shepard in his arms, whispering to the poor, whimpering animal. Jondy was peering through the small window that was embedded in the steel door blocking their quarters from the main hall. "What was that?" Max demanded.

"Seeing a lot of smoke and flame—Zane, we may need to move." Jondy sounded mildly alarmed. At that moment, there was a loud knock on the door, and Jondy peered out again before swiftly undoing the locks and swinging the door open. An intense heat and a fair amount of smoke assaulted Max's senses before Jondy swung the door shut again. "Krit?"

It was hard to recognize her brother, who was black with soot, and dragging a small, prone body with him. "I'm ok, babe." He said, pulling Jondy into a hug, and covering her with soot. "But I'm not entirely sure—I can't tell if she's—"

"She's breathing." Zane confirmed, kneeling next to the small female on the floor. His dog curled itself around her head, still whimpering. "But barely. It looks like she was right next to the explosion point."

"She was," Krit confirmed over Jondy's head. "Bomb went off in central command—Felix and Keegan were on duty."

Max felt her stomach plunge. "Was Alec there? Is Felix alright? Oh god, wasn't Syl on duty too?"

Krit sighed, releasing Jondy and pulling Max into a hug. "Syl is working on getting the fires out, and, well…" Max pulled back, but Krit refused to look at her. "Alec and Ben are MIA. I don't know about Felix, because he shoved Keegan into me after the initial blast, yelled at me to get her out." His voice was tight, "The second bomb went off after that, and I just lost track of everyone."

"That's Keegan?" Max was shocked. While, yes, she was prone and covered in soot, her face was severely lacerated, and her body looked like it had been broken in several places.

Zane glared up at Krit, "She was a lot closer than you're telling us."

Krit ducked his head down, "The first bomb was planted under her work station."

There was another slamming knock on the door, and the door was shoved open by Syl—just as covered in soot as Krit had been. "Where's Ben?" She demanded, quickly cataloguing all who were in the room.

"MIA." Krit whispered.

Syl's lower lip trembled, but she shook herself, and dropped to the floor next to Zane, also giving Keegan a cursory examination. "We need to get a field medic here: we need isomeone/i with authority alive."

"Alive?!" Max nearly screamed. "Alec's dead?"

Her older sister took a deep breath, as if steadying herself. "Alec was supposed to report for duty at the same time as Felix and Keegan—some switch in the duty roster managed to get all three of them in command at once. I know Ben went to talk to Alec about your runes, Maxie. Don't know if he meant at their quarters, or at Command. But no one who's made it out so far has seen any of the 49-'s." Her voice was shaking, her hands were shaking. Syl looked like she was barely keeping it together. "I need you all ready to displace and armed. Zane, is Sandy trained for combat?"

Zane spared a glance at his dog, who was still curled around Keegan. "Basic combat. Never thought I'd have her in a full war situation."

"Will she guard?"

Zane scoffed at her, "Of course."

"Then you take Keegan and have Sandy help keep you guys safe—like I said, we need one of the alphas." She turned to her other siblings, all of who were grabbing their gear from various areas, all but Max. "I know you hate guns, but will you at least carry a knife? If someone makes a grab for you and we're all fighting, I need you to defend—"

"I'm not helpless!" Max wanted to scream.

Syl fixed her with a look. "No, but these people are insane. I don't care how much training you've got, they still have ten more years than we do, and they're psycho. If they come for you, you kill." She held out a knife, a large military issue one if Max was any judge.

And Max took it, feeling its weight and wondering if it felt heavier because she knew it would take a life. "I will."

Syl was just about to issue another order when a louder knock than any previous came from the door. No one moved, and then someone yelled, "I know you guys are in there! Why haven't you displaced yet?!"

"Ben!" Syl rushed for the door, surprised when she got a double arm full of Alec instead. Ben pushed them the rest of the way inside, and closed the door behind him, leaning against it. He, too, was streaked with soot. "What happened?"

"He opened the door to command just as the second bomb went off." Ben explained, taking a sip from the water bottle that Zane held out for him. "Shockwave sent him flying back into one of the reinforced walls. Can't get him to wake up." Ben sounded nervous, and glanced at Max. "I don't think he was completely healed from that last concussion." She had already pulled Alec from Syl's arms, and held him close, tears falling though she didn't even notice.

"So no sign of Felix?" Syl finally said, stepping into Ben's open arms.

He sighed, hugging her close before stepping back. "Felix is coordinating the survivors on the other side. I was told the order came down that everyone on this side was supposed to be over there—cultists aside."

"So how did you know we were here?" Jondy asked.

Ben smirked at them, "Since when have you actually followed orders."

"To be fair, no one told us about the order to leave." Zane shifted Keegan in his arms, keeping Sandy's leash around his wrist. "Jondy was just getting ready to when Krit showed up with her." He nodded towards the prone female in his arms.

The blood drained from Ben's face as the realization struck him. "Oh fuck. That X3…Justin…"

Syl's face also blanched. "Justin as in the dude who runs the inter-office mail?"

"And the one who was supposed to inform you to displace." Ben was snarling, and he didn't even notice. "I know the other quarters are clear, and we've got most of the cultists in the mess hall threatening a full out fire fight—they wanted you somewhere they could trap…you…" he trailed off, turning to face the door. Outside, only smoke drifted past the window. "We need to get out of here now."

"But not through the front," Syl sounded much more like herself now that Ben was back. "They'll be expecting us to leave through there, may have an ambush in the halls, and we have two wounded that would be just as likely targets as Max."

Zane glanced at Keegan and Alec, and frowned. "It was bad enough you moved Alec—he may have a spine injury. Keegan shouldn't have been itouched/i, she's got third degree burns on her face and hands and I don't even want to speculate how badly she's burned under her BDUs. Touching her is ripping skin from her—and trust me, even me holding her right now is doing more harm than good. Moving her more is a death sentence."

Ben frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Field Medic." Zane reminded him. "I stuck to that when I was outside. I was in med school when transgenics were exposed. I know what I'm talking about, and there is no way we can get these two through air vents without killing at least one of them." Sandy gave a low whine, as if she was agreeing.

Syl frowned at him, "I wasn't talking air vents. Mole made sure we had a rear escape when we were assigned. Had a special team of transhumans install a back door in Ben and I's room. It leads out to the parade ground, which is an easy walk to the other side of housing."

Zane frowned, "Moving them is still ivery/i risky. And we still may lose Keegan."

"I don't think we have a choice, " Jondy announced from her new position by the door. "We've got people coming this way, and they're wearing irobes/i."

"Safe bet it's these cultists." Ben sighed. "Ok, out towards the parade ground, and let's see if we can get over to Felix."

Max knew it wasn't going to be easy. They were moving slowly, trying to keep the wounded from becoming more so, and thus she was able to hear when the cultists finally broke down the main door, and started searching through the rooms. The back door was well concealed—even she hadn't noticed it on Mole's grand tour of their living space—but there may have been a leak, and they couldn't stay here.

Syl was taking up the rear, making sure Max stayed between Zane and Krit, both of whom were carrying wounded. Sandy was sticking close to Zane's legs, ears alert and body low. Ben was on point with Jondy, their guns out and eyes constantly roaming the landscape. But Mole had excellent foresight, and had obviously figured out where most of the fighting would occur. Max only glimpsed a few people—all unarmed, running in the direction of cover.

It still took them eight long minutes to cross the parade ground, but when they got to the door, it burst open on its own accord, and there was Mole, ushering them inside. He did a head count, and yelled for Lymph and Clinic, a frown creeping across his features. "Zane," he whispered, giving Sandy an affectionate scratch between the ears, "Don't let Felix see her." Zane gave a curt nod, and headed towards the back of the room, where the medics were rushing from. He met Lymph half way, and after a whispered exchange, was ushered into a curtained off area.

Clinic ran forward, nearly knocking Krit over in her hurried examination. "What happened?"

"Shockwave sent him into one of the reinforced walls," Ben supplied, "Has been unconscious since."

"And you imoved/i him?" Ben shot Clinic a look and the X4 sighed, "I need him flat on the ground, and 472, I need you to grab the portable imager from the temporary hospital." She grabbed his hand as he stood, hissing, "And don't tell Felix Keegan's condition. We need him with a level head, not impulsive."

Ben frowned as Krit scurried off, giving Syl a kiss on the top of her head before stepping forward, kneeling next to the unconscious Alec and Clinic. "Is Felix really going to take it that bad?"

"That's his ilife mate/i, Ben. He's gonna lose it." Clinic frowned, running her fingers over the back of Alec's head. "Oh, that's not good. I need that imager!" She looked over at Ben, and at Max who was hovering behind him, looking unsure what to do with herself. "And I do mean lose it. Look at Max over there—her and Alec aren't even mated and she's practically useless. Felix will either be worse than her, or…"

"Or?" Syl questioned, her and Jondy dropping down to Clinic's level to better hear.

Clinic sighed, "Or it's really not gonna matter who's side he's on anymore; you saw the aftermath of Terminal City, and Felix has a lot more creative ways of making things explode."

Her words settled on them just as Ben caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Mole was coming towards them, with none other than X5-496 himself. "How is he?" He asked after giving a curt nod towards Ben.

"Unconscious, most likely a fractured skull and possibly some spinal injuries." Clinic announced, "But I need the imager to get a better look at his bones."

Felix bit his lip, a nervous habit that Ben was surprised to see all three of them shared. "He's better at strategy than I am, fuck, I was counting on…" His eyes lighted on Ben again, "before you ran off, how were your marks in strategy?"

Ben started, alarmed to be put on the spot. "Top in the platoon."

"Good, you're the best thing we have right now." He started to turn away, but apparently, he couldn't help himself. "Where's Krit? Did he and Keegan make it out?"

"We haven't seen them." Ben cursed his dishonesty, but Clinic was mouthing 'thank you' behind his back. "But we kinda booked it here as soon as I got there: cultists started showing up."

Felix nodded, putting a hand on his shoulder and guiding him towards the makeshift command that had been set up. The amount of walking wounded was astounding: Dix was allowing a rather nasty head wound to be bandaged even as he was working on getting the security cameras up, and Joshua was completely ignoring his medic, rushing past both Felix and Ben to pull Max into his big arms, blood still dripping from his wounded shoulder. "X3-12 was their in. Justin planted four bombs in command, and then altered the shift schedule to get most of the senior officers in place when he set them off. Too bad he had no idea I was designed with black bear in my cocktail and can scent up to a mile away. Found and disarmed two of the explosives before he could set them off. I can confirm he's been eliminated."

Considering what Ben knew happened to Keegan, he couldn't fault the satisfaction in Felix's voice. "Glad to hear. But why do you want me here?"

"You're Alec's twin right?" Gemma piped up, a bandage obscuring one eye, "You've gotta have some of his strategy brains. I mean, you did avoid capture for over ten years."

It was the first time he had been praised for those ten missing years. "Yeah, but I was also a psychopath."

Gemma raised an eyebrow, glancing around at the rest of the assembled transgenics before looking back at Ben, "Which means you might iget/i them better than Alec."

"Benji, you're gonna need to just jump in here." Felix said, shoving a blue print of Manticore under his nose. "They're holding the mess hall, and we just got word a small group just met up with them—I'm guessing the group they sent after you guys." He paused. "We weren't ready for this. Alec knew they would do something like this, but none of us were expecting so soon."

"Felix! The cultists are doing something!" Dix shouted, and both Felix and Ben rushed over to the computer, which was showing the security feeds from the mess hall. "They're chanting something…"

"Shilo! Get over here!" X5-156 limped over, using a makeshift crutch. "You know Egyptian, what are they saying?"

Shilo paused, leaning close to the speakers to get a better idea of the words. "Uh…paper." Dix shoved some into her hand, and she yanked a pen from behind her ear, and started scribbling. After another minute, she straightened up, looking at her notes. "They're not saying anything. It's gibberish. I mean, if you match the sounds to the symbols, they're not saying anything coherent. It's like they threw whatever sounded good together…" She trailed off, her eyes widening as she scribbled more down.

Felix looked like he was getting impatient. "Shilo!"

"Every sound they're using corresponds to a rune that appeared on Max's body before the Jam Pony incident. Which means they're using the leaked translations from Eyes Only." Shilo made a face, "The extremely iwrong/i translations. It was like he never even read the Rosetta Stone."

"These runes were on the Rosetta Stone? Shouldn't he have known that? Communications are up, by the way." Biggs announced, snapping a hasty salute to Felix before settling himself down at the card table holding all the blue prints. "And I got said Eyes Only on the horn wanting to talk to Max. Guessing in all the commotion, no one bothered to inform him of the change in command."

"Eyes can wait for the moment—Shilo, what did the original runes say?" Felix asked.

She shifted on her makeshift crutch, looking awkward. "Well, they're not really runes…just kinda…misshapen. DNA doesn't make for perfect letters." Felix glared at her. "Sorry. Um, well, some words, a couple of phrases, but all of them basically saying 'catalyst' or 'the catalyst has been introduced'."

"Well, that doesn't help us." Ben sighed. "Ok, someone pass me the blue prints for the mess hall—"

Felix shoved them into his hands, smiling. "Thank you, Benji. Shilo, I think you need to take a look at Max; she's apparently come down with the etcha-sketch again." He turned back, addressing the other transgenics and getting the latest intel.

Ben frowned at the papers, watching Shilo and Max out of the corner of his eye. Joshua was still holding on to Max, apparently keeping her upright, while Shilo leaned against the wall, keeping herself propped up as she scribbled notes. And then his eye caught a flash of familiar movement on Dix's monitor. "Hold it!" he didn't care that the entirety of the command froze, he dropped his papers and headed back to Dix's workstation, "Can you rewind that bit? Is it even recording?"

Dix glanced at Felix, who gave a tiny nod before answering, "Yes and yes." He said, adjusting the controls and rewinding the tape back. He pressed play.

"And hold there." The image froze. "Logan Cale is Eyes Only, correct?"

Felix stepped up behind him, peering at the screen. "Yes. Fuck." He spun on his heel, smacking Biggs on the shoulder, "Get me that line!"

Ben bit his lip, worrying it in his teeth as he wracked his brains for that missing piece. He iknew/i what happened, he had all the pieces… fuck, he bet iAlec/i could do it…

"Felix! Wait!" Felix paused, looking back at Ben, hand over the mouthpiece on the cellphone Biggs had just handed him. "Don't call him out on being here. The cultists are giving him a respectful berth, but even that's not right. How should he have any respect?"

"Damnit, you're right." Felix shoved the phone back into Biggs's hand and walked back over to Dix's station. "And in that shot, he looks almost like he's reading…"

"Shilo said they were chanting gibberish. Logan did the leaked—and quite faulty—translation…which was pretty much gibberish. But Logan wasn't unstable, and he moved out of TC on his own." Ben frowned. "Obviously involved, but I don't think he's the one who started this."

"He never informed housing he moved." Gemma announced, squinting awkwardly at a file, "Stupid fucking bandage—"

"Don't you dare take it off! I am inot/i popping your eye back in iagain/i!" Clinic yelled from her place on the floor. "Skull fracture is kinda taking precedence!"

Gemma rolled her unobstructed eye and pulled the papers closer to her face. "Yeah, there is no record of him leaving TC. And his apartment was prime real estate to the pregnant females."

Felix stared at her for a long moment. "Are you telling me he was kidnapped or joined up with these freaks?"

"Kidnapped." The voice came from behind them, and they turned to see Max standing there, with Shilo and her notebook still noting away. "Logan told me he was planning on leaving, but hadn't worked out the particulars. He knew our housing situations, knew the needs. And all of his phones were disconnected about two months ago."

Ben gaped at her. "Wouldn't that be a priority for you? I mean, losing contact with Cale…"

Max shot him a glare that should have put him six feet under. "I wasn't particularly concerned. We were getting our nation on its feet and he was working closer with the S1W, I figured he had to change everything because he got compromised." She looked back at Shilo, "You wanted to know when the first runes appeared?"

"Helpful." She agreed, still puzzling over a symbol over Max's eyebrow.

"Right after Alec spent the night the first time." She was blushing now, "Just before Jam Pony, right after he was arrested because they thought he was iyou/i." She glanced towards Ben, looking upset. "I should have said something, but I was still kinda with Logan…"

He left the computer, giving her a big hug despite Shilo's protests. "God, you're a prude."

"And I give Alec credit," Felix said, looking amused, "He never said a word. Trust me, I asked."

Ben could feel Max frown against his chest, so he stepped back, allowing her to glare a bit at Felix, but still keeping an arm on her. "So, maybe Alec was the catalyst?"

"Makes sense as this says something along the lines of 'pathogen'. But it's hard to read—the letters are spread out across her face, and sometimes not in the right order…" Shilo frowned again, peering over Ben's shoulder to get a better look at another rune gracing Max's temple. "I think it may have something to do with that virus the Familiars were so keen on."

Felix leaned in, giving Max a sniff, which she pulled away from, looking slightly alarmed. "Well, you don't smell sick."

"I've still got Logan on the line." Biggs called, looking exasperated.

Felix ignored Max as he grabbed the cell from Biggs, "What?" But, whatever was being said on the other side was not what he was expecting. Felix moved over to Dix's station, gesturing for the Anomaly to pull up the live feed. "And you're absolutely sure?" His lips tightened. "Yeah, I understand. But hold on, will you?" Felix turned, handing the phone out towards a very surprised Max. "You need to make it quick. And Dix, I need confirmation on that X4's designation and psy-ops status! Ben, I need you to confirm the charges are planted in the correct formation."

Max took the phone with shaking hands, putting it to her ear with a glance back at Alec's prone form. "Yes?"

"iMax! Thank god. Look, I don't have time, so/i," Logan's voice sounded like he was crying, "iI love you. You don't need to say it back—I know you did too in your own way. And I want you to be happy! /i"

"What's going on?" Her question was directed at both Felix and Logan, but neither answered her.

"iMake sure Alec keeps himself out of trouble, eh? He needs to be taking care of you!/i" Logan's voice cut out, "iGive me back to Felix./i"

"Ok, Logan," Max whispered, a horrible feeling coiling in her gut. "Catch you later?"

He gave a sad chuckled. "iCatch you later./i"

Felix took the phone from her and, expression grim, barked a short, "Yes, designation confirmed." And then, "It was an honor, Eyes Only."

Realization hit Max just as the sound of another explosion reached her ears. She tried to look towards Dix's screen, but he pushed it out of her view, not meeting her gaze. The only movement was the medics treating the wounded—everyone who was able was standing at attention, holding a salute, in silent memorandum. "No."

Syl was the first to move, gently grabbing her younger sister with Jondy close behind. "Max, I—"

"He told you to ibomb/i them? To bomb ihim/i?" Her voice was broken, and there wasn't much more she could take before she felt like her entire world would shatter.

Felix glanced at Ben, before putting a hand on Max's shoulder, ignoring her attempt to wince away, "That's why he called." He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Logan knew that every single cultist would be there, and he knew because he had been held hostage by X4-881, a psy-ops model designed for mental reprogramming. The ithing/i behind the cult." He looked over at Dix, "Said he texted the codes for their computers. See if you got anything."

"You just wiped them out." Max whispered, looking as if all of her emotions were just too much. "Just, bam."

Ben hugged her, and she let herself be held. "X4-881 was one of the psy-operatives who worked on me. He had the ability to make you think ianything/i. The transgenics there only thought what ihe/i wanted them to."

"Said they didn't even know their own designations anymore." Felix shook his head. "Cale was a good man; strong too, since he managed to break 881's hold on him."

"I think you mean thick headed." Max corrected him, the ghost of a smile playing across her lips.

Felix frowned at her. "I think she may be in shock," He said to Ben, gesturing for Syl and Jondy to come forward, "She looks ready to—" Max pitched backwards, thankfully into Syl and Jondy's waiting arms . "Faint. Yeah, ok."

Ban clasped him on the shoulder. "Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem. But hold on." Felix said, stopping him from following his sister towards the makeshift hospital in the rear. "I iknow/i I scented Keegan when Gamma Unit came in."

Ben glanced back at Clinic, who was finally organizing Mole and Joshua to get Alec onto a stretcher. She shrugged, wincing when she realized Felix was looking at her too. "Um…"

"Is she…"

"I really don't know." Ben looked away. "But you should probably get to the hospital."

Felix made a move like he wanted to leave, but hesitated. It wasn't until Gemma said, "We've got this. Between Shilo, Dix, Benji and I, we'll get the cleanup organized in no time. Go." That he actually moved.

Ben hesitated himself, but, watching Alec being carried off, and the rest of his own unit hovering anxiously around the cloth separating the hospital from the rest of the room, he knew where he had to be. And with that, he turned back to the blueprints and the cleanup.


	9. Chapter 9

Max was frustrated. She wasn't bored, no, splitting her time between her new duties in the infirmary and keeping an eye on Alec certainly kept her occupied. No, she was frustrated because the damn idiot was still unconscious, and it had been idays/i. And she ineeded/i to talk to him.

It had happened as soon as she followed Clinic into the makeshift hospital and was presented with the clothing Alec had been wearing—most of it cut away, but the pockets were intact. Clinic had hurried her off, then, insisting that she joined her siblings in getting the cleanup effort started. Once assigned to a work crew, she didn't see Alec for a day and a half, and by then he had been moved into the base infirmary. It was a vast improvement over the improvised one in the (short) battle, but it had also been a common area—they couldn't be sure a cultist wouldn't try holding injured people hostage. The place also gave her the wiggens; antiseptic was not a smell associated with fond memories.

It had been another day before they had managed to make Command and the surrounding areas serviceable: there had been practically 'round the clock rotating shifts of various Xs, transhumans and anomalies. Max had just been given the all clear to return to her quarters when Syl had dashed up, handing a hand-written piece of paper detailing her schedule and training: Ben had assigned her to the rather understaffed infirmary with the dual purpose of sending personal where it was most needed, and keeping her close when (iif/i) Alec woke up.

Syl had reminded her that she had an hour till her shift, and she should probably clean up, and Max agreed, hurrying inside her room. She had been running late—she always seemed to—when she had knocked into the bundle of clothes Alec had been wearing during the attack. A small black box, scuffed and smeared with soot, fell from a pocket of what used to be his jeans.

She felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. No matter what she tried to tell herself (iIt's Rachael's locket, or earrings, or a bracelet/i), she iknew/i what that box was, and what it contained. All of what she had been seeing as his hot-and-cold routine had been a fight between—well, to quote iStar Wars/i, 'The good of the many outweighs the good of the few, or the one'* or some bullshit. All those times he looked away, hand in his pocket—

She couldn't bring herself to open the box. Instead, she carried it in her hip pouch, on her person at all times. And even now, sitting next to Alec, another two days after that fateful discovery…she wanted to scream. Wanted him to open his eyes. iI want you to ask me! I want it to be true! I want you to explain this!/i her mind screamed. She knew he had pulled away from most of the human habits he developed as soon as they had been safe in TC; everything from the way he walked to the way he greeted most people had shifted to something that had honestly reminded her of Ben when she had first found him. Feral. Feline.

Max fucking hated it. She hated everything that Manticore had made them, hated everything that made her more animal than human, hated the fact that she was starting to question of being ihuman/i was even the right choice for her. This small, black box was a representation of everything he had been doing for her, every instinct he had been fighting.

Zane had been teaching her basic medical triage, and Clinic—supplied with the new information Dix had found—had been explaining some of the strange biology that made them so different. One of the first things Clinic had taught her was how to deal with mated pairs: Felix and Keegan had been a rather poignant lesson. She had remembered during the battle how both Mole and Clinic had warned her unit not to divulge the status of Keegan to Felix or he might lose it; she wasn't prepared for seeing it. About halfway through her first day in the infirmary, Clinic had called for her help in the burn ward. This ward was quiet, transgenics healed quickly from most burns, and had needed their internal or more severe injuries treated. The only residents in the burn ward were Keegan and two other X series that were too burned to identify. The room itself made her nauseous; it stank of burned flesh and quite often blood. The fact she had been sent in to help remove Felix from the ward was also not very endearing. The male had kicked, fought, snarled, growled—even slashed at Max with what she thought was a small knife—before Clinic was able to subdue him with a tranquilizer… all because they needed to move Keegan for surgery. Felix hadn't wanted to be separated from her for any reason, and had then stalked the corridor until she had been wheeled back into the burn room. The lesson had been an easy one: when it comes to mates, transgenics were ifar/i more animal than human, and rational reasoning was pretty much lost on them.

She knew Alec was more animal than human, knew that he was an excellent actor, knew that every one of his unit subscribed to the mating and claiming ideas. She knew most of his unit were mated. So why was he propos…

Alec's finger twitched.

Max was on her feet, yelling for Clinic, even as she leaned closer, willing him to move his finger again. She heard someone continuing her yell for Clinic, and what seemed like hours passed. Carefully, she reached out, gently holding his hand. She heard Clinic skid to a stop at the door, but she shook her head, tears falling. "False alarm." However, Clinic was already in the room, checking the ancient machines that were monitoring everything from his brain waves to his pulse. "Clinic, I think I imagined it."

Dry, weak fingers gave her hand a small, but definite, squeeze. Her eyes shot to Alec's face, where he was blinking against the light, moving as if the air was as thick as molasses. He made an attempt at a smile, "What's a guy gotta do to get some food around here?*"

"Oh you stupid idiot!" Max burst out, moving to hug him gingerly. She pressed a kiss to his forehead before pulling back to look into his still glazed eyes. "Alec, you're awake!"

"Yeah. And hungry, though that part is going unnoticed. Ow, Clinic, stop." He made to brush her away, but his arm seemed to only get half the message. Cocking an eyebrow. "Ok, one, why am I on morphine and two, how the fuck long was I out?"

"A little under a week." Max supplied, taking her seat beside his bed again, though keeping their fingers entwined. "We were all worried you weren't going to wake up."

Alec frowned, and looked over at Clinic, who rolled her eyes. "I itold/i you your concussion wasn't completely healed. And then you took a reinforced wall to the back of your skull. Fractured."

"How did I manage that?"

"Shockwave. " Clinic ignored the new arrival, but Max started. Ben was holding himself differently, and he gave her a small smile before looking back at Alec. "Heard you were awake. We were on our way to Command when the first explosion went off. You grabbed the door as the shockwave hit."

"Yeah, whatever," Alec spared a smile at Max before pushing himself into a seated position, despite Clinic's protests. "Updates?"

Ben opened his mouth to answer, but Max cut him off, "How do you know he knows what's going on? Didn't you say Gamma Unit was last on the need to know basis."

"Maxie, glaring hurts, so please, stop making me do it." Alec groaned. "Besides, I have a nose. Not only did Ben risk his skin to save imine/i, he smells like the council." Alec looked back towards his clone. "Pulled you in for strategy."

Ben nodded. "Cleanup has been progressing at the standard rate. We lucked out because Felix found two of the explosives they had planned to set off, limiting the damage. Housing units are completely intact and everyone has moved back into their quarters. Infirmary is still pretty full, but it's mostly shrapnel and concussive injuries." Only now did Ben shift uncomfortably. "Any chance of you being up and around soon?"

Alec's eyes narrowed, even as Clinic sputtered. "What happened to Felix and Keegan."

"Keegan was at ground zero for the first blast—she isn't out of the burn unit yet—and Felix…"

Despite Clinic's protests, Alec pulled the iv from his arm, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "I need a wheelchair."

"No! Alec, you need to stay in bed!" Max stood, but Ben was pushing her out of the way, wheeling in the requested object. "Ben! Why are you helping him?"

"Because iI'm/i not an alpha." Ben said, helping Alec into the chair. "I've been sitting on the council, but trust me, I'm not able to run this place. Besides, my new rank is kinda…contested."

"Stigma of Gamma Unit." Alec agreed, looking annoyed that his hospital gown wasn't covering his knees. "And where the fuck are my clothes? I can't go to command flashing everyone."

Clinic pulled the brake on the wheel chair, forcing Alec to stop, and started unwinding the bandage around. "You're not going anywhere until I check that the fragments have fused and there is no swelling. But your clothes are gone; I gave them to Max to dispose of."

A look of horror flickered across his face, but Max already knew what he was so worried about. She leaned over his chair, carefully avoiding being in Clinic's way, and pressed the scuffed black box into his hand. "It was in your jeans." He looked up at her, his expression confused, "I didn't peek." She teased, surprised to find a smile creeping across her features.

And apparently it was contagious, as Alec was grinning, despite the fact Clinic was rewrapping his skull as if it had personally insulted her. "Losing that would have been bad." He smirked at her. "So…you think you'd be up for dinner at the mess hall later?"

"Uh…about that." Ben started, pushing Alec's wheelchair towards the door. "Felix kinda blew it up."

Alec's "iWhat/i?!" echoed down the hall way, and Max couldn't help but grin at Clinic, who looked amused, despite herself.

Max had waited days for the his explanation, but somehow, with him being awake, she figured she could keep her curiosity in check for a few more hours.

"Alec's in Command." Biggs said, carefully placing a hand on Felix's shoulder. The other male made no response. "Felix, man, staring at her is not going to help her skin grow faster." Although, Biggs had to admit there was a vast improvement in the week since Keegan had sustained what had ended up being third degree burns on sixty percent of her body. The stem cells in their blood—with the addition of the Med-X4's super blood—were repairing the damage far faster than any human could hope for. As far as Biggs knew, they hadn't even performed any skin-grafts. But that didn't stop the new flesh from being incredibly weak and prone to infection. "You're needed, man."

"What am I going to do if she doesn't make it?" Felix's voice was quiet, rough from disuse. "I can't…I can't even think right now."

"She's going to wake up. Keegan's a fighter—remember when she took out that X2 with a broken arm and a dislocated jaw? "

"This is a bit different."

Biggs glanced back at the plastic rectangle that enclosed Keegan's bed. "Yeah, a bit. But that doesn't make her any less of a fighter."

A ghost of a smile passed over Felix's face. "No, it doesn't." Finally, he looked up at Biggs, looking resigned. "So tell me where I'm needed, Darklighter*."

Biggs shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Command. Alec may be back…but he's not winning any foot races, and I'm pretty sure Clinic's going to pull her medical rank if he stays out too long." Grasping his fiend's shoulder, he gave him a smile, "Keegan is in good hands. And she knows you're needed elsewhere."

It was reluctant, but still Felix followed.

"X4-881?" Alec looked confused for a second, "Isn't he the one who ended up in the hole because he actually convinced the undercover operatives they iwere/i their covers?"

Felix rolled his eyes. "If you're going to question every fucking fact, I'm heading back to Keegan."

Alec grabbed his arm, frowning when Felix's momentum dragged his wheelchair a bit. "Bro, chill. I'm just…surprised."

"Why?" Shilo asked, puzzling over the papers salvaged from what Logan had described as their base. "All those Psy-ops people were nuts."

"Because X4-881 was a twin. And X4-882 was decommissioned for a god-complex." Alec frowned at the files in his lap, "Can we get a lower table? Or can some one pass me the stills from the security feeds?" he ignored the snickers, and held his hand out expectantly. It only took a second for the files to be there. "Logan said all the cultists were in the mess hall?"

"I wouldn't have made it go 'boom' otherwise." Felix snapped. "Eyes Only was damn sure it was the only way to get them to stop."

There was a long, pregnant silence, and then Alec looked towards Ben. "You were suspicious when you caught him on the security cameras…was anyone walking with him when he got that wide berth?"

"Not that I could see."

"Shoulda looked lower." Alec held up one of the stills, and Ben grabbed it, scanning the lower half—

"Who the fuck is that kid?" For there was a small figure walking almost directly behind Logan, as if attempting to hide himself from the security camera. "I iknew/i it wasn't him they were scared of."

"iThat/i," Alec said as he gestured for Ben to pass the photo around, "Is X4-882."

"Fuck, I remember him from the Basement." Felix cursed, fingers crumpling the photo slightly. "The one who kept making the anomalies commit suicide." There was a collective gasp as some of the rumors that had circulated way back when were proven true. "And there's no chance in hell he was in there when I blew it."

"He shouldn't have survived if he was within a yard of the mess hall," Ben looked painfully hopeful, "I double checked the blast points specifically, and Felix had the entire placed rigged to drop where it was."

"And iyou/i don't know 882. Fucking little anti-christ." Felix growled. "I can't fucking ibelieve/i I actually thought Logan was in control."

"Confirmation that there are no child-sized transgenics visible on the security cameras after Logan starts speaking to Felix." Dix announced from his little corner. "But our original count stands: forty including Logan and X4-881."

Alec snarled, throwing the files in his hands, and then cursing the wave of vertigo the movement had caused. "It can never be that easy."

"I want people combing through the X7s and 8s—triple check designations and barcodes." Felix called to a small transgenic by the door. He nodded, and dashed out, presumably to gather his unit and follow orders.

"Why the fuck is he so small?" Ben asked, looking towards Dix, "I mean, he's an X4 and he's maybe the size of the X8s." Dix gave a little shrug, and Ben sighed, starting back towards the personal shifts he was supposed to be organizing.

"It's because Manticore watched too many horror movies." Alec said, wheeling himself towards Ben's makeshift desk. "Ever see iThe Omen/i? I wouldn't be surprised if 882 had the triple six birthmark too. I think Manticore only designated him 882 because 666 would have been too obvious."

Ben frowned, "I'm sure it would be hilarious if I had actually iseen/i iThe Omen/i."

Both Alec and Felix looked scandalized. "It's a iclassic/i. Perfect example of a slow, hostile takeover while maintaining your cover." Alec said, still looking shocked.

"And decently scary horror movie." Felix agreed.

"But the point is," Alec said, "Damien was a ichild/i. People iwanted/i to take him in, to care for him. And, hey, Dix, pull up the most recent pic of X4-882 Manticore had."

A few keystrokes later, and Dix was waving Ben over. "Holy shit. That's how he got Cale." X4-882 was identical to 881 but in miniature—he looked like he was nine. And, like all of Manticore's human-looking soldiers, he was exceptionally attractive. "Probably pretended to be a scared X8."

"And it would be just like 882 to have someone order their own suicide." Alec and Felix shared a look. "Poor Logan."

"And I bet 882 is just iloving/i this. All those people dead, for ihim/i." Felix was seething. "I would love to rip that little piece—"

Biggs stood up, placing a hand on Felix's shoulder. "Easy, you're still really amped."

Alec waved him off. "I need to get some food. Seriously. Ben, hold down the fort with Biggs till Felix and I get back, eh?"

Felix looked surprised for a second, "Wait, what?"

"You're wheeling me to wherever the food is now." Alec repeated. "And I do mean inow/i."

Felix bristled a little at the pull of rank, but grabbed the handles on Alec's wheel chair and gave it a push. "Meals are in the gym now."

"Awesome." Alec waited until Felix had pushed him completely out of view of command before he turned in his chair, ignoring the pain in his skull. "How's Keegan. Really."

His older clone looked away, letting go of the wheelchair to lean against the wall. "They honestly don't know if she's going to make it. She's stable, but the new skin is weak, and she's been prone to infections because of all the crap that got in while she was being moved." His voice was trembling. "And I can't get that iscent/i out of my head. Of her, burned—cook—" Felix gagged, and Alec was very glad his brother had not eaten recently. "You can't imagine."

"Her scent will come back. Don't you worry." Alec hoped he sounded braver than he felt; he knew Felix needed him to be strong, but Keegan was like a sister to him. Her death would be a blow to the entire unit.

Felix accepted the words, but Alec didn't know if he took any comfort from them. However, a minute later, Felix was pushing him towards the gym, where the smell of food was already teasing them. "Max is in there." He said.

Alec swallowed hard. "I know."

"You're going to do it."

"Yep."

A long pause. "You isure/i you don't want fireworks?"

Alec reached backwards and swatted at his older brother. "I think we've had enough explosions."

Felix shrugged, pulling open the door to the gym and allowing Alec to roll himself in. "Eh, explosions are like zombies: there are never too many." He gave him a small smile. "Good luck, little brother."

Alec took a deep breath, trying to steady himself as his eyes sought out Max—sitting at a table near the middle with the rest of her off duty unit. "Yeah, thanks." He started to roll forward when Felix's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"She'll say yes."

He swallowed hard. "I ireally/i fucking hope so."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

*If you don't know that's iactually/i from bStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan/b, then shame, shame, shame.

*And this is from the live action iTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/i movie. Again, more shame if you don't know it.

*Biggs Darklighter (Red 3) is Luke Skywalker's best friend that dies maybe 10 minutes after we meet him in iStar Wars Episode IV: a New Hope/i. I ireally/i think that's where the writer's got his name. There is no shame if you don't get this reference, as it's kinda obscure in the fact that his character is only fleshed out in the expanded universe (aka the officially licensed and cannon books, comics and such that George Lucas ignored when he decided to make the prequels).

bTBC/b


	10. Chapter 10

His heart was pounding in his chest, his palms were sweating against the metal of the wheelchair's handgrips, but Alec was acutely aware that something was wrong. This was not the nervous anxiety that he had anticipated. Behind him, he heard Felix growl low in his throat, tapping his shoulder three times. Alec swallowed hard, and _focused_.

The emotion was not his own, but he had figured that out already. The feeling was anticipation: predatory anticipation. Part of him couldn't believe the audacity, and part of him couldn't believe his luck. Yeah, he wasn't the most liked transgenic, but as far as he knew, there was only one person hunting him.

Felix stepped up behind him, slowing his forward motion as he retook his position, gripping the handles of the wheelchair. Alec tapped his finger: two long taps, a short and three more long. He didn't need to look behind him to know that Felix understood. Felix brought him right up to the table where Max was sitting, winking as he then stepped off, blending into the crowd.

Alec took a deep breath, still feeling acutely…_anxious_. And then Max noticed him.

Her face lit up, and for a second, Alec was absolutely breathless. "Well, look what the cat dragged in." She practically purred. Her focus was completely on him. Absolutely perfect.

"Well, I had hoped I looked better then something _dragged_ in." Alec mock grumbled, pushing himself up with his arms to meet the kiss she leaned down to press to him. His stomach gave a little leap, and he took another deep breath. Max was staring at him, head cocked to the side. Now his hands were _really_ sweating. Despite that, he anxiously wiped his hands on his pants, slipping his hand into his pocket.

He knew she knew what was coming, but that didn't stop her gasp of surprise when he pressed the box into her hands. "Max, will you—"

"Yes!" She was in his lap, nuzzling her face into his neck, her arms wrapped tightly around him. It took him a second, but he grabbed her tightly, only pulling her back to press kisses to her lips. He was…it was… he wasn't sure he'd ever have the words to accurately describe the exact feeling he had, but he knew pretty much every transgenic in the mess hall felt it: he was one heck of an empath.

Which was the opening that Felix needed to snatch a tiny, dark 882 from the surrounding cloud of transgenics. The resulting scuffle lasted only seconds, but it was enough to startle both Alec and Max. "Oh. Oh, well. Um, good catch."

"I think he's still lovesick." Felix remarked, giving the besotted X4 a shake. "But, I'd get back to the romancing, I got this."

But Max was already standing up, eyebrows raised. "Got _what_?"

"Maxie," Syl started, moving off the bench, "I think we need to see what that ring looks like _on._"

"Besides," Alec started, capturing her left hand in his, "isn't there _always_ something going on? Multitasking seems to be the theme of our lives." She gave a huff, but Felix was already backing away, 882 tightly secured in his grasp, and, well, Alec had opened the ring box.

Diamonds had never been Max's thing: Alec had thought long and hard before trading for this ring. The band was gold-tinted, polished to a high shine with a tiger's eye set into it. The band itself was woven steel, something he had thought would be prudent as Maxie wasn't the most cognizant of what she wore and gold was such a soft metal.

By her gasp, he had gotten it right. Grinning, he slipped the ring onto her finger, pressing a kiss to it once it was there. "So…you like it?" She answered with a kiss, and Alec wasn't going to complain—at least not until someone rapped him hard on the top of the head. "You know, I'm kinda busy."

"Get a room." Zane grumbled, looking uncomfortable with the entire situation. "Or, just get…I dunno. Away from the food? You're not the best for digestion."

"Urg." Max put, rather eloquently if Alec thought so. "_Fine_." She slid off his lap, sticking her tongue out at her unit while stepping behind Alec's chair. "What do you say we go take this someplace else."

Alec leaned his head back, grinning. "I think I like that idea."

**TWO MONTHS LATER:**

Alec sighed, glaring at the wall of green that _should_ have looked like a regular concrete bunker. It wasn't as if he preferred the nondescript grey, but if the concrete was showing, they could at least paint it. He had Mole bitching about the vines and how they were weakening the walls with their roots and acid, but honestly, he didn't really care. Maybe this would be something conveniently 'forgotten' on next week's agenda. Or, perhaps he'd finally get together a grounds crew, keep the verge looking nice.

If he was honest with himself, he didn't know what to do. In fact, he was starting to think he was obsolete. Yes, the transgenics were still under constant threat of discovery…but they could make a stand here. Nothing short of a nuclear strike could threaten their defenses enough to make another redeployment necessary. Between himself, Felix and Ben, they had back up plans, and evac drills, and emergency supplies; if anyone wanted to attack them, they wouldn't do very much damage.

But now, their people needed a _life_. People were talking about opening little restaurants, getting diversity and choice outside their mess hall. Paintings were sprouting up on the inner walls: nothing that could possibly attract attention from the outside, but bright and joyful.

Alec was surprised how much he hated it.

"Mole said you'd be out here." Max's voice floated over him, and he smiled, turning to face her. She was dressed as she always was, but she looked relaxed, at ease, and it made her look soft, gorgeous. "He said you were the last one on his side about the vines."

"Well, they aren't _really_ structurally sound…though that takes decades. It's…" He frowned. "It's not supposed to look like this."

Max glanced between him and the wall, before slowly nodding. "I believe that's why Mole was making such a fuss."

"Maxie." Alec groaned, turning back to her. "I think you should talk to Jondy, see if you can convince her to take on this whole 'civilian-izing' thing. To me, all of it just looks…wrong." She stepped closer to him, and he pulled her into his arms, holding her close. She snuggled against his chest, gripping his shirt tightly. "Really, really wrong."

"Well, you are gonna have to get used to it. Especially since we just got another shipment of furniture in." He groaned, and Max grinned at the exasperated sound. "Hey, we need those chairs. There _is_ a wedding coming up."

He smiled as she pressed a kiss to his lips. "Hey, I even found a tux. Felix was going on about finding dress blues, but it's not like we're Air Force anymore…" He trailed off, allowing her lips to capture his, and wrapping his arms around her. She leaned into him—and the two ended up on the ground, as Alec's knees failed him. "Oh shit."

Max chuckled as she helped him to his feet. "You're still supposed to be using your cane."

"And _you're_ supposed to be at the hospital, _Nurse_ Maxie." He grinned, leaning in to brush an errant strand of hair from her face. "Which, by the way, is extremely sexy. You being all professional."

She let her head fall against his shoulder, "Oh don't remind me. I'm assisting with Keegan's physical therapy today, and Felix just doesn't seem to get that requires _touching_ her."

Alec chuckled, kissing her hair. "I'll talk to him. Or restrain him. Or get several people to restrain him. Whichever." He shrugged, pulling her close. "So…do _you_ like the ivy?"

Max took a moment to regard the wall, still cuddling close to him. "It's definitely not Manticore."

"Guess it stays."

She giggled. "Yeah, it should." She sighed. "But you're right. I should get going. Can't be late on my first day back."

"You getting sick worried me. I mean, you were our very own Typhoid Mary…well, minus the whole rather disgusting way that typhoid is transmitted…and no one's died yet." Alec made a face. "A few of our suppliers caught it too. Looks like there's a super bug going around. And coincidently when the last of your runes fade away…" She smacked his arm. "I'm still upset you're not checking into that."

"You told me it was my decision, and you swore you wouldn't make it an order. All in all, progress, Mr. Control Freak." Alec rolled his eyes, muttering to himself, and Max grinned. "Come on, walk me to the hospital?"

He smiled at her. "Of course, Maxie."

**End**


End file.
